>From the luthiers I've talked to, the reason that violinists etc. have peg jobs so often is their insistence on ebony pegs. Ebony is somewhat abrasive and wears out the holes fairly quickly. Not really a problem with most of the woods used for lute pegs. If pegs are slipping, check to see if they are out of round (just pull it out and see if the bearing surface is evenly polished, or only at a couple of spots). If it is out of round, it's not hard to get it back to round, or just take it to a luthier. If it's not out of round, a little peg dope should be sufficient to get it working properly (some prefer chalk). You should be able find peg dope at almost any music store.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Ramey" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Herbert Ward" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 11:40 AM Subject: Re: Do pegs get smooth and begin slipping? > 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? > > > > -- >
