Corrosion on keywork

I have just acquired a bassoon and need some advice...
There seems to be extensive corrosion on the Nickel keywork in the form of green residue??
Can anyone tell me what causes this, how or if it can be treated and what can I do to prevent it getting worse?
It doesnt seem to affect the sound .....at the minute lol
Many Thanks

Hi there,

although nickel alloys can be very good at resisting corrosion they might eventually develop a yellow/light green tinted corrosion.

That's also why many bassoons have their keywork silver plated, as on silver you tend to just get some tarnishing which can be polished off.

It seems that a humid and/or acidic environment speeds up the corrosion.

So if you'd like to prevent more corrosion from happening you might want to consider to get the keywork cleaned
and replated or at least after playing wipe down the keys to remove the oil/sweat residues of your fingers from the keywork.

Without the alloy being plated it's hard to say how much it will keep corroding, depends on the makeup of the alloy.

Good luck
James

Thanks James

I have scraped all the green oxidation off the keys and will now look at getting them replated. Funnily enough the corrosion is on the large stoppers on the lower tone holes rather than where the fingers actually touch the keys....must have been stored poorly??
All the best :-)

I would agree on this.

Electroplating is an expensive thing including the removal of the keywork.

Especially if it'd involve the posts which is a horrible thought to me.

Maybe it'll be fine if you just keep it clean.
I guess you just want to play the bassoon, not go on tour with it and show off.
If you just want to touch up some spots on it you could also consider using ionic plating.

There are some products out there that you just dab on and it'll deposit silver plating.
BUT you want to have it clean first.
IIRC that involves a mild acidic bath and some extra bath to take the acid off again before doing the plating.
You might want to go on a bit of a travel with google on plating to get a bit of an idea what it all can involve.

Maybe after all just keeping it reasonably clean might suffice

Cheers
James

Thanks for supporting my thoughts James.

I have tried these battery operated spot plating kits that you see advertised on E-bay etc & think that they are a waste of time & money. The thickness of metal you can put on, without spending a very long time at it, is so thin that it wears off very fast. (The amount of metal used on instrument keys is typically 3 - 4 times that used on silver plated cutlery etc) Also you would have to be very careful not to get any of the solution onto pads or the body of the bassoon or you risk damaging them. Despite what some sellers state I don't believe that the chemicals used are harmless - even if they are much less toxic than the cyanide compounds traditionally used for plating.

Ian

Thanks for your input.
Very interesting weighing up the pro's and con's...
Like you say, what's the point in having a sparkly instrument if it sounds horrible lol

I have a friend who knows someone in electro-plating so we shall see ;-)
Will let you know how i get on.

All the best
Andy

Also find a reputable bassoon technician.

Ian

.... & what make & model of bassoon do you have?

I had a look at the old bassoon I play myself today and spotted some light green corrosion on some keys.

I'll just clean it.

It might be a good way of reminding you to give it a bit of a clean once in a way anyway.
(Including the inside of the bocal)

Cheers
James

Will keep it clean from now on
I can get the nickel re-plated for @30quid if i wait a few weeks for more orders to come in to fill the Nickel bath!
I'm still contem-plating wether to go for it. Never replaced pads before but shouldnt be too hard?? May need a good repair technician yet!
Some of the keys were stiff so I took them off and cleaned them , this made no difference....after further examination noticed the posts were slightly out of alignment and with a little nudge back the keys are as smooth as silk once more.
I think this bassoon's been mistreated lol
Dont know the make, although it does say made in Germany on the Butt.

All i need now is a crutch, a locking pin and a bell ring lol

Very best wishes
Andy

I played 'happy birthday' to my 12 year old nephew on my bassoon and his dad noticed the corrosion/tarnish and gave some of the metalwork a rub with 'auto-sol' (a chrome cleaner that he uses for motorbikes) It worked a treat so now I think having it re-plated was a bit of an over - reaction!
Thanks all
Andy