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Spider silk strings
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RockingLR33
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March 24, 2014 - 10:37 pm
Member Since: September 21, 2013
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ok so i was reading the "Fiddler News" on spider silk string. After hearing the three different types of strings, i could definitely hear the difference. it was like there was just a bit more complexity to the sound. Not quite sure what to call it. I wish he'd have done a sample side by side with gut strings as well, since i've only ever really heard steel and nylon strings.

Any who...if it wouldn't completely break the bank how many of ya'll would try the spider silk strings? 

 

I find the idea fascinating! :D What an interesting thing for someone to look into. The idea would never have crossed my mind...now I'm just curious how you "coax" a spider into laying the filament lines. lol. sounds like risky business.  and twisting 15000! of those lines together for the G...talk about delicate work! Hats off to that scientist

Here's the link if anyone wants it :

http://www.newscientist.com/ar.....zDrgdyZZFL

 

Lead me, Follow me, or get out of my way!

             ~General George S. Patton

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Uzi
Georgia

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March 25, 2014 - 2:19 pm
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Looks like those spiders hanging around in my basement have been demonstrating a despicable lack of industry.  I need to set up a little spider sweat shop down there and get them started working for me in the string business.  No silk, no flies -- that's going to be my motto from here on.  

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright

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KindaScratchy
Massachusetts
March 26, 2014 - 9:07 pm
Member Since: March 14, 2012
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Yeah, I think I've also got a little violin string factory in my basement, if I can get them organized.

fainting-1344

BTW, I thought the sound was cool but I didn't like it as much as I do conventional steel or nylon strings.

When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,

I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.

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RockingLR33
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March 26, 2014 - 10:19 pm
Member Since: September 21, 2013
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Guess we better get those spiders whipped into shape! lol.

 

@Uzi  oh you had me rolling on the ground "no silk no flies" I could just hear the whip cracking to get those little spiders working! 

 

@KindaScratchy  i definitely love my nylon strings!  just curious to how long a spider string would hold up. curious to hear if they last a lot longer because of the construction of the silk but it would be hard to break away from traditional strings for sure!

Lead me, Follow me, or get out of my way!

             ~General George S. Patton

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Ellusion

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March 27, 2014 - 2:47 am
Member Since: January 29, 2014
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Spider silk is really some pretty amazing stuff. It can stretch a large percentage of it's length (something like 70% if I remember right) and it's very strong; a strand the size of a garden hose would be able to hold up two Boeing 747's with cargo and passengers!

 

As far as getting the silk (I'm not sure if this is the way they're getting it or not, but I saw a Nova about it), goats have been infused with spider genes so that when they are milked, the spider-goat milk has the spider silk chemicals in it and they actually make silk from it. Which is kinda weird and cool at the same time lol.

 

The fact that they're making violin strings from it is pretty neat. smile

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
March 27, 2014 - 8:52 am
Member Since: September 26, 2010
Forum Posts: 16429

Ellusion said
Spider silk is really some pretty amazing stuff. It can stretch a large percentage of it's length (something like 70% if I remember right) and it's very strong; a strand the size of a garden hose would be able to hold up two Boeing 747's with cargo and passengers! .....

That reminds me of a joke:

Mr. Jacobs, the biology instructor at a posh suburban girl's junior college, said during class, "Miss Arnold, would you please name the organ of the human body, which under the appropriate conditions, expands to six times its normal size, and define the conditions." Miss Arnold gasped, then said freezingly, "Mr. Jacobs, I don't think that is a proper question to ask me. I assure you my parents will hear of this." With that she sat down red-faced. Unperturbed, Mr. Jacobs called on Miss Jones and asked the same question. Miss Jones, with composure, replied, "The pupil of the eye, in dim light." "Correct," said Mr. Jacobs. "And now, Miss Arnold, I have three things to say to you. One, you have not studied your lesson. Two, you have a dirty mind. And three, you will someday be faced with a dreadful disappointment."

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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