Re: [Harp-L] Gold plated Reeds?



No, for the following reasons:
1. Gold is a very weak metal. It would not lend any strength.
2. Gold plating is ordinarily very thin.
3. After you tuned a reed, it would be gone in the area of removed material.


Stress concentrations occur at abrupt changes of cross section. You can avoid these by keeping the surface of the reed smooth. Polishing might help.

If gold were used to protect spring steel from rusting, it might make a superior reed. The tuning porblem remains. Very thin gold plating isn't terribly expensive.

Although it will often occur at the high stress points and is thus a secondary result of stress concentrations, fatigue is basically a different thing.

Vern

----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Coble" <robertpcoble@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Harp-L" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 12:20 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] Gold plated Reeds?




Would gold plating of the reeds provide a certain amount of structural support for longevity of the reeds by "filling in" the micro cracks left by the milling/tuning process?

(Yes, I'm quite aware that they would be prohibitively expensive reeds. Maybe that's part of the reason why the Hohner Silver Concerto has a Minimum Advertized Price of $9,995.00. ;-) )

Crazy (as always) Bob





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