You're right. The wax only provides a viscous element between string and nut. And of course the turbulence never enters into the lute equation. But I still hold the nut surface need not be completely polished out when using beeswax (see my other post on it). Completely polished would probably be better for dry lubricants such as pencil lead. And if it wasn't before, it will be soon since the small particles in the pencil lead would act as a polishing agent. The wax won't.
s At 09:11 PM 1/23/04, you wrote: >Ummm, the reason that golfballs have lower wind-resistance is that the >dimpled surface creates a turbulent boundary layer. That retards boundary >layer separation better than the laminar boundary layer that would be >created by a smooth surface, which in turn leads to lower wind-resistance >(see any basic book on fluid mechanics, Bachelor is my favorite). The same >principle is used with some high-performance jets. It's a totally different >physical situation than a string sticking in a groove. I think that you are >probably better off with a fairly smooth groove. > > >Guy > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "James A Stimson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "lutesmith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 9:16 AM >Subject: Re: More on tuning > > > > > > > > > > > > Dear Sean and All: > > I'd recently heard of using beeswax for gut strings, and in fact just > > bought some but haven't applied any yet. Have you used it with gut > > strings? > > They tend to stick a bit more than nylon. > > Interesting theory about leaving the groove a little rough. Would this > > apply to wound strings as well, though? It seems to me with a wound string > > a perfectly smooth, very slightly arched groove is best. > > Yours, > > Jim > > > > > > > > > > > > lutesmith > > <[EMAIL PROTECTED] To: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > bal.net> cc: > > Subject: Re: More on > > tuning > > 01/23/2004 02:12 > > AM > > > > > > > > > > > > > > At 10:08 PM 1/22/04, you wrote: > > >Hi Daniel and David, > > > > > > > Hi Daniel, > > > > > > > > One possible reason the string makes that "quantum jump" is that it > > > > may > > > > be sticking in the groove of the nut. A good way to smooth out the > > > > groove is with pencil graphite. > > > > > >This is a way that works but is looking really bad after. I by myself use > > >an old wound string to polish the string groove. Apply as much as power > > >you can give. > > > > > > I'd be careful here. Some nuts are softer and polish quicker than others. > > You don't want to take down too much material. Not polishing it out > > completely will more easily hold a film of lube (I prefer beeswax: it > > doesn't leave your strings black) --kind of like a dimpled golfball > > creates > > > > less resistance than a completely smooth. > > > > Sean > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
