Re: [Harp-L] Was harp price, now maintance

[Joe Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Jul 3, 2011, at 8:18 AM, Bruce K Ritter wrote:
>  I've come to believe that I don't want to put water in my harps and promote
> rust/corrosion
> Any experience or comments on these products?
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> Bruce K Ritter
> A careless word may kindle strife, a cruel word may wreck a life, a timely
> word may level stress, a loving word may heal and bless.
>  


> Bruce, there is no reason to be afraid of water. Breath is water. PLUS proteins. These can build up into a coating that resembles Elmer's glue. You can have the cleanest mouth in the world and I can still swab the inside of your cheek and come up with skin cells and proteins that have been sluffed off. Ergo: DNA. The only things that can rust in a harp are: a..the rivets, and b..in the case of chromatics, the return spring.

Now the rivets are very tiny and the head is the only place large enough to rust. BUT, while bridges and buildings can rust out due to pieces rusting, flaking away and therefore allowing MORE surface area to rust, the rivet can only get so much rust on it until the rust blocks out any more oxygen. It has to do with the size of atoms. You can reduce the size of something (such as dropping in size from a girder..down to a tiny rivet head, but you CAN' reduce the size of atoms. There isn't enough area on a rivet head to allow any more than a surface coating. The rest of the rivet is buried in the brass, and so protected.

They have dug up harmonicas that have been buried for over 150 years, and the rivets were STILL holding. Springs are a cavallo of a different hue. If the cadmium, galvanize, or nickel plating wears off, the spring CAN rust. You alleviate this by replacing it with a #2 dressmakers safety pin. These are higher quality than common pins and are plated. Usually chrome plated. Or you might be able to find stainless pins. 

When I started scuba in the mid 50s, all the valves insides of my Cressi-Rondine equipment were of brass and bronze parts. Eventually stainless on some parts. When I was a salvage diver, the hard hat was tinned brass, all the valves and fittings were brass & bronze. When working in a slightly corrosive environment (salt water/breath/kitchen sink), brass is still top of the tree. Easy to work with, It is the most chosen material for working around water (the universal solvent). 7 out of 8 people are alkali bases (I happen to be the other one), and brass would be fine for most anything they do. Most horns are brass and they hold up for generations. :)

 gnome sayne....... smo-joe  
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