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Well i was just surfing around the internet and came across a website http://www.proplate.com and decided to do a little reading. Being someone who has always turned to gold plated mouthpieces over silver I was wondering has anyone ever tried to plate a mouthpiece on one of the other metals they list? Specifically Rhodium or Palladium since from their descriptions...especially Rhodium... they seems like they mght have a harder...smoother surface than even gold. And they are both precious metals...so they are very non-reactive. Just a geeky sort of question. Perhaps a mouthpiece make or repair person would have a little more insight to this.

I would wonder about plating a soft metal like brass with a harder metal. Silver and gold work well on brass because they are soft too. But Nickel plating on brass tends to flake off when it gets old, perhaps because Nickel is much harder than brass. Could that be a problem with rhodium and palladium? I would not want to find out the hard way on my best mouthpiece.
Try it on a junker and let us know how it works out. Personally, I suspect that unplated stainless steel is the way to go.

I actually agree with both of you...and am not planning on having it done any time soon. I guess while I am sitting here pondering my wisdom teeth i just have to come up with things to try and keep my mind off of it...and the plating issue seemed at the very least like I could learn something about it. But I still do wonder..... is there a better(softer) surface than gold...or stainless out there hmmmmm...

JayW wrote:But I still do wonder..... is there a better(softer) surface than gold...or stainless out there hmmmmm...

Platinum, perhaps?

Search the old TubeNet archives on "Rhodium" and you'll see that the subject has come up before. Doug Elliott opined that the hardness of rhodium may not make for a good plating. (Ever seen the way the plating chips off an old chromium plated mouthpiece? The sharpness of the edges'd scare you ).

I've been suggesting PVD of TiN as a good alternative for a few years, but the catch is that PVD is done in large batches and so is probably not a good alternative for the average mouthpiece maker. But they do "lifetime gold" bathroom fixtures and doorknobs in it quite routinely.

Some printed circuit boards have their edge connectors plated in a gold alloy that's a lot harder than regular gold and quite a bit more resistant to wear.

I had a mouthpiece plated with rhodium a few year ago. I talked to a couple of university professors (metallurgists) beforehand about this material, but could never get a conclusive answer about possible long range toxic effects. It was not a huge change - a bit sticky, no better that silver or gold plate. Gold feels great but wears quickly.

Try stainless steel. It's the new thing.

You're all wrong. Lexan is the way to go.

bloke wrote:I seem to recall that Herco mouthpieces are Rhodium plated...or were at one time...I seem to remember an ad...

I think you might be right, Joe. I have a Herco Eb mouthpiece that appears to be stainless steel (silver-looking but kinda dull). At first I thought it WAS stainless 'til I buffed a little on the end of the shank. It's NOT silver plated 'cause it won't polish. It's a crappy MP, anyway. I use it for a paperweight!

Chuck(G) wrote:
I've been suggesting PVD of TiN as a good alternative for a few years, but the catch is that PVD is done in large batches and so is probably not a good alternative for the average mouthpiece maker. But they do "lifetime gold" bathroom fixtures and doorknobs in it quite routinely.

Yesterday at the IAJE convention I stopped by a booth for an Austrian company called Titanovation that is making titanium mouthpieces. I didnt have a tuba with me so I couldn't try them out, but they certainly were nicely made. I picked one up and it hardly weighed anything! The finish is either raw titanium, or gold TiN coating.

http://www.titanovation.com

-Eric

Shockwave wrote: Yesterday at the IAJE convention I stopped by a booth for an Austrian company called Titanovation that is making titanium mouthpieces. I didnt have a tuba with me so I couldn't try them out, but they certainly were nicely made. I picked one up and it hardly weighed anything! The finish is either raw titanium, or gold TiN coating.

http://www.titanovation.com

Now there's an idea for Messrs Giddings and Webster! Offer their stainless mouthpieces with a gold TiN PVD coating. Titanium nitride is far harder and more inert than stainless alloys, so using it might address both the issues of appearance and the concern of some about dermal sensitivity to stainless.