The physics of friction and nut slots are probably even more complicated. I don't know about you folks, but I kinda assume that the nut and the string are completely rigid, but on the scale we are talking about that's probably not true. I had my mind boggled recently when it was pointed out to me that the size contact area between the steel tyre on a railway wheel and the steel rail is proportional only to the weight, and not significantly affected by the diameter of the wheel, because tyre and rail deform elastically until equilibrium. It seems feasible, then, that a similar effect could be happening between string and nut, especially if the contact area is very small, as it would be with a V or flat bottomed slot that makes contact only at one end of the nut. I shouldn't be surprised if the amount of elastic deformation affects friction/stiction too, but who knows. Moral - lubricate the damn thing!
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Originally Posted by JimC
