Klarinet Archive - Posting 000872.txt from 1997/02

From: Stephen Cranefield <stephen@-----.NZ>
Subj: Re: glass/crystal
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 1997 16:28:25 -0500

Oliver Seely writes:

> The use of the two terms [glass and crystal] for me as a chemist is
> both problematic and irritating. [ ... ]
> ... I'd be interested to read the posting of an authority on the
> subject who could tell us what the average melting point is of
> these various hard and transparent mouthpieces for which the word
> "crystal" is bandied about so casually.

I'm no authority on the subject, but I've always assumed that crystal
mouthpieces are made from the same material as crystal tableware (such
as good quality wine glasses) and I have seen some of these in shops
with stickers claiming that they are "lead crystal (PbO2)".

In the past I have played both O'Brien and Pomerico mouthpieces and
there certainly is a difference in the look of the materials they are
made from.

- Stephen

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Stephen Cranefield Phone: +64 3 479 8083
Department of Information Science Fax: 479 8311
University of Otago
Dunedin, New Zealand E-mail: scranefield@-----.nz
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