I'm wondering about making mouthpieces out of Nordic gold.

[bloke]

Only knowing that it's affordable, non-toxic, and doesn't tarnish, I have no additional comments at this time.

For those who are curious enough to like to know what it is but not curious enough to look it up, this is that mostly copper metal that European countries and other countries have used to make coins. It stays shiny and looks like gold.

[BramJ]

" It is non-allergenic; its other advantages include antimycotic and weak antimicrobial (especially after abrasion) attributes, and resistance to tarnishing. It has been studied for its antimicrobial hospital applications. "

Sounds like a good option!

[LibraryMark]

Can you buy round bar stock of it?

[bloke]

I have posted as much as I know.

[bisontuba]

Mammoth tusk....some repro serpent mouthpieces have used this ..

[bloke]

[2nd tenor]

Seems every day is a school day.

50 euro cent coin made out of Nordic Gold.
Nordic Gold (Swedish: nordiskt guld[1]) is the gold-coloured copper alloy from which many coins are made. The alloy is a type of aluminium bronze. It has been used for a number of coins in many currencies, most notably in euro 50, 20, and 10 cents,[2][3] in the Swedish 5 and 10 kronor coins (for which it was originally developed and introduced in 1991),[4] as well as the Polish 2 złoty commemorative coins. Its composition is 89% copper, 5% aluminium, 5% zinc, and 1% tin.[5][2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_Gold

I doubt that this material is readily available in bar stock for machining, but you never know.

[bloke]

I doubt if it is as well, but it seems as though it would be a viable material.

- It would be good for those people who believe the nonsense that they type of metal "affects the sound"...ie. "mouthpieces should be made of some sort of copper alloy" (because it wouldn't need to be plated, and plating wears off), as well as for the outright stainless-steel-o-phobes.

[gocsick]

It's an aluminum bronze. About 90% Cooper 5% aluminum then zinc and tin make to the balance.

I've never seen anything except coin blanks made from it. It is tricky to cast because the zinc boils out at s temperature pretty close to the melting point of copper. So you have to melt the whole thing except zinc, then lower the temperature. The alloy has a lower melting point than copper, once it is close to the freezing point you have to add the zinc, which lowers the melting point further so it will stay liquid to s lower temperature. Then car right away. Still you will loose about 10% of the zinc you put in to evaporation and you can only make relatively small castings.

From there the ingots are rolled into sheet to cut out the coin blanks and for stamping/embossing.

I don't see a practical reason why it couldn't be cast into cylinders or extruded. Just no one is doing it.

Much cheaper to simply make gold plated mouthpieces.

[donn]

The color isn't all that appealing. It's supernaturally dull. There might be more attractive copper nickel alloys with similar properties.

[bloke]

If you wanted to buy one from me, donn, I would paint it green for you. You can go ahead and pay now, and I'll send you a Nordic gold green painted or green anodized one when I have one to sell to you.

Isn't it fun to argue about stuff that doesn't even exist, and how we like or dislike the of anesthetics of non-existent things?

bloke "Just call me supernaturally dull."

[MikeS]

Zirconium is available in rod stock. William Symington in the UK has used it for some of his excellent bass trombone mouthpieces. It doesn’t look flashy but it is hypoallergenic. If your saliva has high concentrations of sulphuric or nitric acid it just might be the ticket. It would also work well if you wanted to turn your mouthpiece into a tiny nuclear reactor. I’m sure it sounds completely different from brass in ways that defy consistent description. It’s also fun to argue about stuff that does exist but nobody has tried.

[tadawson]

As far as hypoallergenic (and despite the difficulty to machine), has anyone ever tried titanium?

[gocsick]

Giddings makes trumpet mouthpieces out of titanium... They start about $430 depending on the mouthpiece and finish. They make titanium rims for tuba and trombone component mouthpieces.

Can'

[bloke]

Giddings makes trumpet mouthpieces out of titanium... They start about $430 depending on the mouthpiece and finish. They make titanium rims for tuba and trombone component mouthpieces.

Can'

Titanium is pretty goofy, because it's hard yet remarkably flexible. The tooling to cut it has to be very hard, very sharp and you can't push very hard when cutting it or you just move it over. Weird stuff.

[donn]

While we're digging up wikipedia info on zirconium, consider this:

Zirconium alloys are corrosion resistant and biocompatible, and therefore can be used for body implants. In one particular application, a Zr-2.5Nb alloy is formed into a knee or hip implant and then oxidized to produce a hard ceramic surface for use in bearing against a polyethylene component. This oxidized zirconium alloy material provides the beneficial surface properties of a ceramic (reduced friction and increased abrasion resistance), while retaining the beneficial bulk properties of the underlying metal (manufacturability, fracture toughness, and ductility), providing a good solution for these medical implant applications.

Reduced friction? Of all the things that might conceivably matter between one material and another, that seems like the most likely one. A strong, corrosion resistant alloy with a ceramic coating? Hm.