stainless steel as a material for a music box comb?
Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:20 pm
I'm starting on a project for making a music box that will be permanently mounted out-of-doors here in the San Francisco Bay Area, about a mile from the ocean (and consequently subjected to the corrosive atmospheric conditions that we get). I was thinking of machining the comb (or "harp", if you prefer) out of stainless steel, since it will resist rusting far better than the typical carbon steel used for music boxes.
I've been unable to find any examples of stainless being used for this purpose. From that, I could infer that it's unsuitable for making musical tones, or that there's simply no necessity for using it (since most music boxes live inside of climate-controlled rooms), or that it would sound different from a carbon steel comb of the same size (thus preventing them from working with existing cylinders), or a host of other possible explanations.
Setting aside those questions, can anyone tell me if they've heard a struck or plucked instrument that used stainless tines? -or know any reasons why it should (or shouldn't) work OK for that purpose?
FWIW, I won't be using a standard cylinder, so that part of the thing won't be a factor.
Thanks in advance!
I've been unable to find any examples of stainless being used for this purpose. From that, I could infer that it's unsuitable for making musical tones, or that there's simply no necessity for using it (since most music boxes live inside of climate-controlled rooms), or that it would sound different from a carbon steel comb of the same size (thus preventing them from working with existing cylinders), or a host of other possible explanations.
Setting aside those questions, can anyone tell me if they've heard a struck or plucked instrument that used stainless tines? -or know any reasons why it should (or shouldn't) work OK for that purpose?
FWIW, I won't be using a standard cylinder, so that part of the thing won't be a factor.
Thanks in advance!