13 Jan
2006
13 Jan
'06
11:05 a.m.
Chuck Guzis wrote:
The EU RoHS has me in a tizzy because the regulations
are beginning to
mandate that lead be removed from solders used to assemble brass musical
instruments. Well, the substitutes don't flow as nicely and it's much
harder to make a strong joint. I've seen instruments that have come from
the top German manufacturers that have cold solder joints. But a musical
instrument has a very long life (50 years and longer isn't unusual); the
solder is well contained and doesn't leach from the joints during use, so
where is the harm? We're not talking about mobile phones with an average
life of less than a year here. My oldest (and still-played) tuba dates
from 1895.
Bismuth-tin solder with high-temperature soldering gear works well
enough, doesn't it?
Peace... Sridhar