Klarinet Archive - Posting 000522.txt from 1998/11

From: "Chuck Trimble CPA" <trimble@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] silver and rubber (was wolf tones)
Date: Sat, 14 Nov 1998 15:42:42 -0500

there are no stainless steel keys. chuck trimble
-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk>
Date: Saturday, November 14, 1998 1:24 AM
Subject: Re: [kl] silver and rubber (was wolf tones)

>Hmmm. in that case, 1) why were they normally made with stainless steel
>keys, and 2) why do they go greeny-yellow with age?
>Surely it is (or was) not possible to harden natural rubber without
>sulphur? This is why it's called "vulcanization", sulphur being
>thought of as the typical product of volcanoes.
>.
>Roger Shilcock
>
>
> On Fri, 13 Nov 1998,
>Chuck Trimble CPA wrote:
>
>> Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 15:15:59 -0600
>> From: Chuck Trimble CPA <trimble@-----.net>
>> Reply-To: klarinet@-----.org
>> To: klarinet@-----.org
>> Subject: Re: [kl] silver and rubber (was wolf tones)
>>
>> there is no problem with silver and hard rubber. there is no sulfur in
the
>> rubber clarinets. chuck trimble
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: LeliaLoban@-----.com>
>> To: klarinet@-----.org>
>> 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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