[Harp-L] reed polishing - revised

[Vern <jevern@xxxxxxx>]

Please disregard my previous email. Here is my revised response.  I deleted the part about polishing both sides of the reed. I understand that the finish on the stock is better than the machined top side. We are talking about polishing the top side of the reed only.  My conclusion is the same but the deleted item is not a valid reason.   Mea   Culpa.

Vern

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer:
In general, fatigue cracks can occur at stress concentrations arising from abrupt changes of cross-section thickness.  Polishing is intended to smooth out such changes.  This is the weak rationale for the notion of polishing reeds.

Howeverââ..
...SS is very resistant to fatigue.
âthe Seydel reeds are not very rough so there are not appreciable changes of cross section.
âIf polishing removes any material, you will lower the pitch.
âif polishing removes any material, you will change the stress distribution along the reed, possibly creating stress peaks and doing more harm than good.
âyou will never know whether or not the polishing extended reed life.  A valid test would require cycling many polished and unpolished reeds to failure under identical conditions.  I doubt that even the manufacturers have done anything like that.

IMO, there is much to be lost and little to be gained.   
For this reason, I donât bother to polish my Saxony reeds.

Vern