Re: [Harp-L] Igor Flach and the 1847 Silver

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

On Mar 10, 2008, at 7:05 PM, Rick Dempster wrote:

> 'Nickel' is a 'base' (is that the right word?) metal - yes? I mean,  
> not
> an alloy.

Nickel is an elemental heavy metal. I don't remember it's number on  
the valence chart.

> Is chrome an alloy of nickel and something else?

Chrome is chromium. It is also a real bona-fide element

> and does
> stainless steel contain nickel?

Yes, stainless is an alloy NOT an element. It is an amalgum or alloy  
of several metals.

> Somehow I felt that nickel, chrome and
> stainless steel were all related.

No, they aren't, BUT Chromium is generally electroplated over nickel  
which is electroplated over a base of copper. The reasoning is fairly  
basic. It all has to do with the number of electrons in the outer  
orbit of an element. Copper is a good base because it can stick onto  
steel with it's 2 outer orbit atoms bonding or 'knitting' into the 6  
outer atoms of the steel. Then copper is maleable ( soft ) enough and  
porous enough to take a flash plating of nickel. The nickel is then  
buffed and polished to a high sheen and the chromium is used as a  
'sealer'. The nickel is actually the shimmering shine and reflexion  
and the chromium is the 'glazing' coat giving a very hard shell  
surface which is extremely slippy and long wearing (if done right).

That's why I never condoned silver plating for mouthpieces on  
chromos. It just isn't necessary. My God, chromium is used to coat  
(better) gun barrels. Not much out there can beat it's slippyness.

Stainless can also be buffed to a high lustre but is not as hard as  
chromium and since it contains a LOT of nickel, it has approx the  
same wearability.

Base metal/pot-metal/white-metal are all amalgums of mostly zinc and  
some other metals.

German silver is a misnomer that has been around hundreds of years.  
Some crafty merchant came up with it to lend esteem to HIS wares. The  
word silver connotes something of value. Used mostly on gun parts,  
flatware, table acoutrements, personal hygiene items and anything  
where a 'trimmy' appearance was desired (i,e, hair brush), was made  
with this stuff.

I only added that little sentence to Frank's post to make people  
aware that German silver....isn't. I certainly wasn't correcting  
anyone as there was nothing to correct. His post was correct AS  
stated and read. I have also seen these types of adds. I already  
spoke with Frank.

> I suppose I could look this up
> somewhere but I might leave it to Smo-joe & Winslow to battle it out.

There really isn't anything to battle. Now most would say that  
regarding this subject "Who GIVES a.....". In actuality, some people  
(not me) are allergic to nickel, brass (because of the zinc), base  
metals, lead, mercury, tin, molybdenum, uranium, and a few dozen  
other metals. Most people are NOT allergic to stainless, silver,  
copper, gold.

I think Igor Flach was allergic to brass (probably because of the  
zinc). Maybe he wouldn't have been with bronze (it is copper & tin).  
Hey, I don't know.

Bottom line: with the exception of the cheap U.S. automotive bumpers  
of the past, it's real hard....real real hard to beat chrome. No one  
seems to be allergic to it.

smo-joe

> RD
>
>
> > > > Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx> 11/03/2008 6:07 >>>
> Actually, "German Silver" aka nickel silver, is a nickel-copper alloy,
> sometimes including other metals such as zinc:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_silver
>
> It's used for guitar frets and woodwind keys, but may have toxicity
> problems.
>
> Hohner got rid of nickel plating on their coverplates due, I was told,
> to German law, as some people are allergic to nickel. Perhaps this  
> alloy
> doesn't have that problem.
>
> Winslow
>
> Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Mar 10, 2008, at 12:50 PM, Frank Evers wrote:
>
> > Hi
> >
> > Life goes strange ways sometimes. Late Igor Flach was Seydels beta
> > tester for the 1847 stainless steel reeds harp.
> > However he was still unhappy with todays harmonicas, because he
> didn't
> > want no brass at all in his mouth. Because of this he was looking
> > forward to Seydels upcoming "1847 Silver" model.
> >
> > Now, only two days after his death i see on the Seydel homepage,
> that
> > this Silver model finally is about to be delivered within this
> > month - with solid polymer comb and plated made of German Silver.
>
> German silver is actually nickel
> smo-joe
>
> > Right the kind of harmonica he was looking forward to play for long.
> >
> > Strage ways...
> >
> > --
> > Gruß,Frank
> >
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