David and Steve, Pardon that I haven't seen the original question (my lute list messages are in two places, which I'm trying to fix). I'm familiar with delrin and it is quite hard. I believe that is what is both the saddle and the nut on my "lute", although I'd have to check the specs. The hammered dulcimers I've made use a wooden bridge capped with metal fret strips (easy to inset, make a thin slit and force the fret strips in). I can't see a full delrin bridge for the HD, but for the nut on a lute it should work quite well. The difference between the nut and the bridge is the desire for a guide groove. Delrin is perfect for that (as would be ivory, if you could get it, or afford it). Gut or nylon strings won't cut into delrin, but it is soft enough to work with a craftsman's Swedish pattern file. BTW David, wire strings of any sort will cut a bit into any material. I prefer a metal capped bridge for those instruments, but none of them have a nut.
Best, Jon > Hi Steve, > > I remember from my hammered dulcimer-playing days that delrin was the > material of choice for the bridges. Unfortunately I have no skill at > instrument making, or I would have tried to make one of my own, but the > three HD makers whose instruments I've owned (Dusty Strings, Lost > Valley and Jerry Hudson) all used delrin bridges. With all those > strings (about 30 or so), along with phosphur-bronze wound basses, the > amount of pressure on the HD bridges is huge, but delrin is supposed to > be hard enough to keep from becoming notched over time. If it's that > hard, I doubt if lute strings would have much effect on it. As a > material to make bridge nuts out of, though. I imagine it would be > difficult to cut. > > Regards, > > David Rastall > > On Sunday, January 25, 2004, at 11:22 PM, Steve Ramey wrote: > > > All, > > > > About 20 years ago, I used 1/8" diameter delrin rod for the bridges on > > a hammered dulcimer I built. It's a self-lubricating plastic along > > the line of teflon, but harder. If I recall correctly, I believe I > > was told its hardness is something like Rockwell c 62. > > > > When I made the instrument, I failed to measure twice before cutting > > once and got things out of proportion to the extent I had to use > > bronze wound guitar strings for the lower courses. Admittedly, I > > haven't played (or tuned) the dulcimer for a few years, but when I was > > playing it regularly, I don't recall any particular difficulty tuning > > those strings as compared with tuning the plain music wire strings in > > the upper courses. > > > > There are grooves where the strings cross the bridges. I can barely > > see them, I can feel them with a fingernail, and I can hear the > > strings click into them if I slide the string away from its normal > > position. I believe a delrin bridge would last a long time and might > > alleviate some of the quantum leap unpleasantness we all experience. > > > > I found the delrin rod at a plastics distributor in the Dayton OH area > > where I live. It shouldn't be too terribly hard to come by. > > > >
