Re: car wax on tubas... and email address


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Posted by Joe S. on July 30, 2000 at 12:08:24:

In Reply to: car wax on tubas... and email address posted by Joe S. on July 28, 2000 at 22:04:57:

My response was too "smart-eleck". I apologize.

Let's look into the purpose of a finish, though:

The purpose of a finish, in the view of most, is to "protect the appearance of" - or at least "protect" - the primary "base" material and do so (hopefully) with very little maintenance.

ELECTROPLATING with nickel (NOT a popular choice on brass instruments, these days) accomplishes this, due to the protective aspect of any plating and the fact that nickel tarnishes rather slowly. A "satin"-SILVER finish accomplishes these goals fairly well because, like the textured finish on a modern refrigerator door, it hides fingerprints and other smears and the silver plating (although quick to tarnish) protects the base metal from oxidation. BRIGHT silver plating (although very pretty when highly maintained) is really not the most satisfactory coating, due to its high maintenance aspect (shows fingerprints and smudges just as bare, unplated base metal quickly would). Those who go out of their way to choose a BRIGHT silver often select it as a "vanity" finish (if they admit it), but many consumers purchase BRIGHT silver plated instruments simply because manufacturers have made this finish so prevalent, and the consumer often has little other choice of finish in a particular model or brand. An example of the "vanity" aspect of bright silver plating would be with Miraphone brand tubas, which are not particularly readily available with a bright silver plated finish. When people ask me about ordering a bright silver Miraphone and I tell them there is a significant wait PLUS the order is irrevocable, I ask them why they want that finish. The answer is always, "I dunno. I LIKE it." (Which IS, btw, a good answer.)

SPRAYED-ON LACQUER COATINGS accomplish protection of the base metal due to the fact that, as long as they remain intact, they do a good job of sealing the base metal from oxygen in the air - much in the way that an electroplated metal coating does. The combination of this effective sealing factor, "good looks", and "economy" makes this finish very popular. Those who reject it are often concerned about having a plasticized coating on their brass instrument. This, seemingly, would be the only "negative" of a lacquer finish.

PATENA is yet another (and a "natural") way to protect the base metal. Patena is simply the oxidation which forms on top of the metal (brown in color - "brass oxide"). Once a brass surface has totally oxidized, this process pretty much seals an instrument from further corrosion, because the oxide coating is just as effective as electroplating in sealing off unoxidized metal (underneath) from oxygen in the air. The only drawback of this process is that it is an ugly brown color. The big "plus" is that it requires no effort. I admit that this is the "method" that I use to "protect" my most prized instrument. (;^/)

The purpose of a WAX coating (which is unstable, in that it never "sets" or truly "dries") is to supply a suspension OVER a lacquer finish in which contaminents may be held. Wax, due to its instability, cannot be airtight and cannot prevent oxidation. Every few days, contaminated wax (over lacquer) should be wiped away and replaced with clean wax. The fact that it can be very easily wiped away is the same reason why waxing bare metal is not a sarifactory tarnish preventative. Simply keeping BARE brass polished up (without messing with wax) is just about the same amount of trouble as regular re-waxing (which - due to some involved rubbing - certainly ends up removing brass oxide with each re-application, anyway). If one chooses wax INSTEAD OF lacquer so as to avoid a plasticized coating over the instrument, the choice may be folly, since adding a significant amount of wax (enough thought by the user to prevent tarnish) surely - if a lacquer coating indeed does this - slightly effects the vibration of a brass instrument just as a lacquer theoretically would. ie: A substantial smearing on of wax should (by logic) effect the sound of an instrument just as much as a spray-painting on of a clear coating of a lacquer.


I cannot recommend that everyone let their tuba simply turn brown, as I have. Most players enjoy the appearance of a shiny, unoxidized instrument. I cannot see how waxing bare polished metal can (just as demonstrated in the "smart" example below using automobile finishes) be a satisfactory finish, in the way that I defined the "purpose" of a finish in the first paragraph.

All of that being said...Do what you like, and knock yourself out. Have fun!

-Joe





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