Klarinet Archive - Posting 000819.txt from 1999/08

From: Roger Shilcock <roger.shilcock@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl] RE:German silver
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 04:02:19 -0400

Adding lead makes it easier to turn. You also have the problem of getting
rid of the turnings....
There is a history here, which needs looking at by a real metallurgist.
German silver was originally made by smelting together a zinc ore and a
specific copper ore; presumably the copper was allowed to dissolve in the
molten zinc. (They can't be melted together; zinc boils at a temperature
lower than the melting point of copper!). After this had been going on
for, possibly, a four-figure number of years (originally in China), it
was discovered in the mid-nineteenth century that the copper ore concerned
actually contained a small amount of nickel, and that the nickel was
making the alloy actually useful and workable. I don't know how much zinc
the Chinese were using; what I do know is that with over 42% zinc there is
a sharp transition (to a totally body-centred cubic structure), and such
alloys have a much reduced ductility. I assume - dangerously - that the
nickel was rendering such high-zinc brasses genuinely useful. When
the nickel content was discovered, the way was opened for the production
of modern "nickel silver" alloys, aided by the total mutual solubility of
copper and nickel.
Roger Shilcock

On Thu, 26 Aug 1999, Anne Bell wrote:

> Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 12:26:43 -0400
> From: Anne Bell <bell@-----.net>
> Reply-To: klarinet@-----.org
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: Re: [kl] RE:German silver
>
> Lelia,
> You're welcome. Actually I couldn't sleep so I figured I would look that up- I had been meaning to for some time. I think the repair person that mentioned a difference between Nickel Silver and German Silver was using that distinction to point out a problem with one grade of the product, though it is always possible that a different alloy or one with some other additives, was the problem. For something recent and from a big name I would expect a pretty consistant chemical makeup conforming to a specific grade and for specific properties. If we were talking about a long time ago or decorative work I think there would be much more leeway in the actual makeup! Whatever scrap is lying around the shop plus a few new pigs for good measure...
> To add further confusion German Silver/ Nickel Silver can also be referred to as Nickel or Leaded Nickel Brass! Concerning the lead- regular is under .5% lead and Leaded has over .5% there is no upper limit in what I'm reading but I imagine it should remain pretty low.
>
> Anne
>
>
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