Posted by js on May 11, 2002 at 17:06:51:
In Reply to: Re: Re: engraving a silver plated instrument? posted by Jay Bertolet on May 11, 2002 at 09:19:06:
Nope, ' just lacquer the silver plating, engrave it, (with care) strip the lacquer back off of the silver plating, and clean up (polish) the silver plating.
A "section" (ie. "spot" plating) really cannot be replated effectively, but that isn't an issue, as stripping silver plating isn't required.
Yep, production engraving is done prior to silver plating, so that the cut places are coated with silver too.
As to lacquer finishes, the old way was to engrave after lacquering but today (with the super-cosmetically-conscious consumers that exist today - many of whom probably buy pro-look instruments mostly for status) the final lacquering is done after the engraving is done. ->[nerd warning TOO MUCH INFORMATION AHEAD]<- This practice possibly started with the Selmer Mark VI (almost indisputably the best-ever) saxophones from France, which were imported to the U.S. between the mid-'50's and the early-'70's. When these saxophones were received by the American distributor, Selmer U.S.A., the Elkhart receiver would wedge all of the pads down and spray an additional coat of lacquer on each of these instruments in order to keep the freshly cut-in engraving from tarnishing to brown. This did the trick, but it also did something else sort of interesting: It coated the areas of the leather pads sticking out past the tone holes with lacquer. This (unintentionally) preserved the leather pads to the point that some (depending on the care of their owners) Mark VI factory pad jobs lasted as long as fifteen years, rather than five or so years.