Re: [Harp-L] Gold plated Reeds?

["Vern Smith" <jevern@xxxxxxx>]

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