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Does anyone know if the nickel-colored accents on Jin Bao instruments (ferrules, valve caps and the like) are nickel plated, solid nickel, solid nickel silver...?

solid nickel-brass alloy isn't all that more expensive (though more expensive) - to use as straight tubes, ferrules, etc.

What would be expensive (labor-wise) would be to nickel PLATE all of those parts, solder them to the BRASS parts, clean up all the solder joints, and be SUPER-careful to NOT buff through any of the nickel PLATING (WERE those parts plated - and not solid) during the clean-up (prior to lacquering).

short answer: Those parts are solid nickel-brass alloy.

I HAVE SEEN some Jinbao instruments whereby the rotor PADDLES are nickel PLATED brass...and I've seen some super-duper-econo Jinbao instruments whereby the rotor paddles are - simply - lacquered brass (no nickel plating).

On the cimbasso I built, I DID "cheat" and nickel PLATED the l-o-n-g outside slide main slide tubes (at the bottom of the instrument) as I used 5J inside/outside tubes for one side, and King 234X inside/outside tubing for the other side.

me...?? I like the feel of brass sliding against brass (softer metal), and it's quicker/easier to "lap" (ie. fit for quick-action, yet without being loose) than is nickel-brass. durability...?? Either will long-outlast me, particularly If I thoroughly oil an instrument's valveset with lamp oil prior to each playing session.
Miraphone 98 (all slide tubes are nickel-brass)...It didn't take all that much longer to "lap" pairs of slide tubes into each other, though (as otherwise it would have taken CONSIDERABLY longer) I did (again) "cheat" and sanded the inside tubas JUST A LITTLE BIT (experience dictating - to avoid ruination). (As you may remember, I reconfigured SEVERAL pairs of slide tubes on that instrument.

Thank you, that is helpful. I wonder if that alloy of nickel/brass on the Jin Bao instruments is different than the one used on European instruments. It just looks so much more nickel-y/shiny (and kinda cheap, tbh).

arpthark wrote: ↑Thu Sep 21, 2023 11:54 am Thank you, that is helpful. I wonder if that alloy of nickel/brass on the Jin Bao instruments is different than the one used on European instruments. It just looks so much more nickel-y/shiny (and kinda cheap, tbh).

There are several formulas. If I posted links that would be TMI, yes?
Typically, it's brass (copper/zinc) with enough nickel to offer a silver-ish color, rather than a gold-ish color.

note: Some now refer to "nickel-brass" as a particular gold-tone alloy, but (old school) I refer to the nickel-colored ones as "nickel-brass".

More commonly, they're referred to as "nickel silver" - a complete misnomer. "German silver" is even more of a misnomer.

rauantiques.com wrote:German imitations of the Chinese alloy began to appear in 1750, and by 1770, Suhl metalworks was able to produce a similar alloy. The Germans perfected the process in the early 19th century, and soon it was introduced in England, where the alloy was dubbed "German silver."