miracle metal titanium?

[Ron Nossaman]

> I stand corrected. In a previous post I made the assumption that 
> titanium was titanium, but a bit of research has shown me that this is 
> not so. Apparently, pure titanium is actually quite soft. However, it is 
> rarely used in its chemically pure form. Its alloys with small amounts 
> of aluminum and vanadium and sometimes tin yield a metal which is very 
> hard and has a high tensile strength. (This is probably the stuff that 
> was dulling my hack saw blades!)

There is the source of the problem I'm having with the stuff. 
Titanium is titanium is not titanium, depending... Whether or not it 
will kill werewolves depends on the alloy, maybe, or not at all. Why 
is simple physical information about most everything so bloody hard 
to get?


> So I guess the statement that the bridge pins (or anything else in a 
> piano) are made of titanium doesn't really say very much in regards to 
> strength, unless the alloy is known (eg. Ti-6/6/2: aircraft grade).

Yup, exactly.


> As Ron Nossaman said, there seems to be certain fascination for titanium 
> going about, and perhaps one can even speak of a fad. But who knows 
> where it will be used in pianos of the future, and to what effect? 
> Surely the combination of its physical and chemical properties: 
> strength, non-corroding and low weight have appeal for use in certain 
> applications.
> 
> Jurgen Goering

Tuning levers, for instance, where the stiffness to weight ratio is 
useful. Anything else, it seems, depends.

Ron N