Geoff Wooff Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 Recently I bought an old Accordeon that has very beautifull tone qualities. On examination of the interior there are certain banks of reeds which have Bronze ( or Brass) frames whilst other banks of reeds appear to be Aluminium framed. But I am wondering if these Alu frames are not actually Zinc, which is purported to give a very nice tone quality which is popular with Bandoneonists. As this accordeon was made during the height of Bandoneon popularity in Europe and, I think, it has a sound as close to that of the Bandoneon as I have heard on an accordeon I am in doubt as to whether the frames are Aluminium or Zinc. Does anyone here know how to tell the difference between the two metals ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Jowaisas Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 Geoff, http://www.coyotesteel.com/assets/img/PDFs/weightspercubicfoot.pdf I'm not sure if this helps but here is a chart for comparative weights of metal which I've found fascinating. Zinc is 3Xs as heavy as aluminum. No metallurgist here , but my encounters with zinc are as a rust preventing coating for steel as in galvanized garbage cans. (No accordion "trashing" intended ) I've heard the references concerning good sounds from banks of "zinc" plates of accordion reeds. Or are the "plates" plated? I wonder if a magnet test is in order? Risking thread drift: Wally Carroll once did a run of titanium reed frames for an instrument. We could ask Wally his opinion but my recollection was there was not a significant sound difference from brass. Titanium was significantly lighter than brass but much, much harder to machine and finish. Best, Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted September 30, 2015 Author Share Posted September 30, 2015 Geoff, http://www.coyotesteel.com/assets/img/PDFs/weightspercubicfoot.pdf I'm not sure if this helps but here is a chart for comparative weights of metal which I've found fascinating. Zinc is 3Xs as heavy as aluminum. No metallurgist here , but my encounters with zinc are as a rust preventing coating for steel as in galvanized garbage cans. (No accordion "trashing" intended ) I've heard the references concerning good sounds from banks of "zinc" plates of accordion reeds. Or are the "plates" plated? I wonder if a magnet test is in order? Risking thread drift: Wally Carroll once did a run of titanium reed frames for an instrument. We could ask Wally his opinion but my recollection was there was not a significant sound difference from brass. Titanium was significantly lighter than brass but much, much harder to machine and finish. Best, Greg Thanks Greg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Pierceall Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Recently I bought an old Accordeon that has very beautifull tone qualities. On examination of the interior there are certain banks of reeds which have Bronze ( or Brass) frames whilst other banks of reeds appear to be Aluminium framed. But I am wondering if these Alu frames are not actually Zinc, which is purported to give a very nice tone quality which is popular with Bandoneonists. As this accordeon was made during the height of Bandoneon popularity in Europe and, I think, it has a sound as close to that of the Bandoneon as I have heard on an accordeon I am in doubt as to whether the frames are Aluminium or Zinc. Does anyone here know how to tell the difference between the two metals ? During WWI Moller used zinc reed frames as a substitute for brass, which was in short supply. I've seen at least one instrument that had brass tongues and zinc frames. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Johnson Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Find yourself a piece of aluminum and hold it next to the reed plates. Aluminum is a very white toned metal. Evenly reflective of all visible spectrum colors, where Zinc has a blue-greenish tinge. If they are not the same, you'll notice. And as Greg says, there is the weight thing, but you might find it inconvenient to compare that. Dana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWL Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 A question for my education. Were the Zinc reed shoes pure zinc, or were they an alloy that we today would call pot metal / white metal / die cast? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Johnson Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 (edited) There are a lot of zinc alloys. Sheet zinc plate isn't likely pure, but neither is it of the family of "pot metal " casting alloys that often contain zinc due to its low melting point, commonly weak, porous and useful for inexpensive production of more complicated shapes. This sort of sheet zinc is relatively hard, ( a bit harder than aluminum anyway ), ductile enough to punch cleanly, and relatively resistant to corrosion. If dry. I wouldn't look down on it as a metal. It is quite useful stuff. It is especially good for sharp detailed castings that don't require a lot of energy to make. Dana Edited October 9, 2015 by Dana Johnson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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