Herb, Friction pegs work, not because of roughness between the peg and the hole but rather due to the precision of roundness and taper between the peg and the hole. Can't speak to how long pegs last, but I do know violinists, violists, cellists and such folks have peg jobs done on their instruments every few years. Mostly, I think the pegs and peg holes go out of round due to uneven wood shrinkage. They have their friendly repair man shave the pegs ever so slightly back into round and ream the peg holes back into round and that works for a while. Eventually, the repairman drills out the peg holes, glues in boxwood bushings, redrills the holes, and reams them and shaves new pegs to fit. Ebony and rosewood, both common peg woods, tend to shrink more than boxwood. That's why boxwood was the wood of choice for sliderules-- remember them?, engineers' scales and such. Don't recall exactly where I saw it last, but there's a relatively common illustration of how wood shrinks. It's a drawing of a log, end-on, with outlines of various planks as they could be sawn from it and how they shrink differently. As I recall, one of the examples shows something like a 1x3 cut horizontally from about the 12 o'clock position on the log. The illustration shows the 3" surfaces shrinking only slightly (toward the center of the plank) with the 1" surfaces shrinking more (again, toward the center of the plank). Thus, for purposes of illustration, we might assume the final dimensions of the plank to be something like 7/8" x 2 1/2". Although lute woods are well cured before the building process is begun, the shrinking process continues. My $.02 worth. Hope it's a little clearer than mud. Best, Steve
Herbert Ward <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: How long do pegs last? Do their friction surfaces wear smooth (become polished), and lose their ability to hold the strings at tension? --
