D R A W I N G S

made by Grant O'Brien

 

Stringing the 'French' Ruckers aligned double-manual harpsichord

 

String density factor

 

Taylor's equation, used to calculate the string diameters for this instrument, involves the string density factor ρπ/g.  In this equation:

 

ρ = the physical density of the material in kg/m³

π = 3.1415926536....

g = the acceleration of gravity = 9.81 m/sec²

 

The physical density of a number of samples of historical wire has been determined by Martha Goodway and Jay Scott Odell, ‘The metallurgy of 17th- and 18th-century music wire’, The Historical Harpsichord  Volume 2, Howard Schott editor, (Pendragon Press, Stuyvesant, NY, 1987).  The physical density factor has been calculated for the 3 common types of stringing material in the table below:

 

 

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