Klarinet Archive - Posting 000492.txt from 1998/11

From: "Chuck Trimble CPA" <trimble@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] silver and rubber (was wolf tones)
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 16:15:59 -0500

there is no problem with silver and hard rubber. there is no sulfur in the
rubber clarinets. chuck trimble
-----Original Message-----
From: LeliaLoban@-----.com>
Date: Friday, November 13, 1998 9:59 AM
Subject: [kl] silver and rubber (was wolf tones)

>I mentioned that the hard rubber "Carl Fischer" stencil clarinet I bought
>recently turns out to have silver-plated keys.
>
>Roger Shilcock wrote,
>>>Silver plating is a stupid thing to do on an ebonite instrument. The
sulphur
>in the rubber reacts with silver; this is removeable, no doubt, but in
>removing it some of the plating goes too.>>
>
>That was also my impression, but now I'm wondering about the chemical
>differences between soft rubber (as in rubber bands) and hard rubber (as in
>clarinets, mouthpieces and fountain pens). I don't question the warnings
>against letting soft rubber come in contact with silver. I've seen the
damage
>that results. For instance, one of my silver-plated saxes has permanent
black
>streaks from a rubber band that a former owner used to close a vent key
with a
>broken spring. (I consider myself frugal, but that's REALLY cheap!) Silver
>polish won't take off those marks. I haven't found anything else that will
do
>the job without risking the plate.
>
>However, the fact is that although this rubber clarinet must be about half
a
>century old, the silver plated keys are undamaged, despite moisture
conditions
>inside the case that permitted other types of corrosion, though it wasn't
>extensive. The case needed cleaning up, the corks and pads needed
replacing
>and I removed minor rust from some of the screws and screw holes.
>(Fortunately the threads were all right. WD-40 released the screws.) The
>blackening of the silver in the tight places (between the trill keys, for
>instance) was ordinary tarnish. It came off easily with silver polish. I
>found nothing like the damage that I've seen elsewhere from rubber bands.
>
>I also own several old hard rubber sax and clarinet mouthpieces with
ligatures
>and caps plated with silver both inside and out. The silver shows none of
the
>characteristic damage, despite decades of direct contact with the hard
rubber.
>My husband collects old writing pens. Some of the hard rubber ones from
the
>early 1900s have decorative bands and silver filagree applied directly and
>tightly to the rubber. He finds no damage, either on the surfaces that
>contact the rubber (filagree) or the ones separated by small amounts of air
>space (clips). He thinks that something about the manufacturing process
locks
>up the sulfur in hard rubber and makes it less likely to interact with
silver.
>Maybe someone with a better scientific background than mine can explain
>further.
>
>Lelia
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>"A general flavor of mild decay,
>But nothing local, as one might say."
>--Oliver Wendell Holmes, "The Deacon's Masterpiece"
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
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