Tunings you like to use on your dulcimer
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
The graphite is a just a lubricant. It is often sold in powder form to be used in key locks to keep the action nice and smooth. If you look at the setup of the strings over the nut, there is generally quite an angle between the axis of the string that is strummed, and the part of the string that goes from the nut to the tuning machine. That is the point where a bit of lubricant can really make a big difference. Some folks have used silicon grease or even cooking oil...not realy sure which is best....but hey...we're not send a man to the moon here.