I have a few old French ocarinas (see the ocarina page on my site for a picture of one) which seem to be moulded out of a similar metal to that used for toys. Whatever it is, it's not ferromagnetic. As they've lasted 100 years without bending or breaking, I assume it's something tougher than the usual toy metal.
Anybody know what these alloys are?
And why are they used at all? Surely iron is the cheapest metal they could use?
My pet beef with this stuff: an inferior grade of it is used for the legs of clarinet stands (the sort where the legs fold into the cone). They break very easily. I first found out how brittle it is when I was playing in a pub and a glass fell off a table and landed on the leg of the stand. The glass stayed intact but the leg shattered. On average I break a stand leg every few months.
==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts
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