Posted by John Swensen on April 05, 2001 at 14:10:30:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: shaping spatulas posted by Chuck(G) on April 05, 2001 at 12:34:04:
Actually, Mark Veneklasen built a prototype for a (French) horn with many innovative features, including a key mechanism that followed the arc of the fingertips. The patents for the horn have expired, if anyone wishes to copy the ideas.
Stainless steels have the advantages of greater strength, hardness, and corrosion resistance than brass or nickel silver (actually, nickel-bearing brass), but they are kind of a pain to work with (they work harden as they are cut, requiring very rigid machinery), driving up the cost of manufacturing. Since they have about the same density as brass or nickel silver, they would not be much lighter (they could be made very slightly thinner, because of their greater stiffness). Furthermore, if the greater strength or corrosion resistance was really necessary, the rest of the horn would be suffering.