Tombac KVK 1 w/o Swords

[jambobbyb]

Hang on guys i have a pretty good way of solving this, Ask the good DR love, He is always repairing awards, will ask him if he has ever come across a KVK thats true tombac,

[Robert P.]

Hang on guys i have a pretty good way of solving this, Ask the good DR love, He is always repairing awards, will ask him if he has ever come across a KVK thats true tombac,

I did some destructive testing on a tombak Ost medal once to solve an issue of whether some early Ost's were indeed solid tombak. I won't do it again on a KVKI.

BTW, the Ost WAS solid tombak.

Robert

[jambobbyb]

Wow a tombac OST seriously? Never come across one of those before, The good thing about DR love is a lot of the awards he works on come in a sort of an assembly required state
Here is a pic of my "tombac" KVKWOS Marked 50 as i remember

[wh014d4394]

hi jimbob.the kvks certainly did come in brass i have repaired about 6 of them. there a lot harder to repair than there zinc counter parts

[Frank K]

Careful, by definition, zinc is also a "nonferrous buntmetal"!

Albert is right. Buntmetall is a synonym for nonferrous metals and includes different variations of cupper (incl tombak), zink, lead, nickel, chrome etc.
Found the above here and and made a loose translation:

http://www.dittmar-stahl.de/lexikon/b/buntmetall.html

[Robert P.]

Wow a tombac OST seriously? Never come across one of those before, The good thing about DR love is a lot of the awards he works on come in a sort of an assembly required state
Here is a pic of my "tombac" KVKWOS Marked 50 as i remember

Yes, a tombak Ostmedal. It was an interesting thread. The variety of Ostmedals I have, and the study of them was really rewarding and educational. Somewhere in the thread, if I remember right, Theo brought up a 23-step working procedure for manufacturing the Ostmedal, dated 1936-1945. This procedure included applying a thin layer of brass over the zinc base of the medallion before applying the silver paint, and acid-resistant paint. If anyone is interested in this documented procedure I can send them a proof of it. Write me at rcpljp@aol.com. This was for the zinc-based Ostmedal. Through destructive testing it was positively proven that there were medals made from pure tombak.
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=196795

Robert

[Frank K]

Jimmy, let me ask a stupid question but are you talking about kvk1's, not kvk2's?

Nice ost medal btw, Robert!

[Robert P.]

hi jimbob.the kvks certainly did come in brass i have repaired about 6 of them. there a lot harder to repair than there zinc counter parts

Hi Jimmy,

I was hoping you would comment. The distinction between zinc and brass is most evident with destructive testing, and the repairing and restoring of these awards. Thank you, Jimmy.

Robert

[Robert P.]

Albert is right. Buntmetall is a synonym for nonferrous metals and includes different variations of cupper (incl tombak), zink, lead, nickel, chrome etc.
Found the above here and and made a loose translation:

http://www.dittmar-stahl.de/lexikon/b/buntmetall.html

Absolutely. I agree.

Robert

[wh014d4394]

Jimmy, let me ask a stupid question but are you talking about kvk1's, not kvk2's?

Nice ost medal btw, Robert!

kvk.1 my good sir

[jambobbyb]

Thanks for your comments Jimmy, Robert love that ost Now i have another one to add to the list which no matter how much i buy never seems to get any shorter

[Robert P.]

Thanks for your comments Jimmy, Robert love that ost Now i have another one to add to the list which no matter how much i buy never seems to get any shorter

Tell me about it! Marc (Flak88) got me into flak badges about six months ago - badges, zinc and tombak, flak uniforms. Now I'm into Heer flak badges. My goodness, will it ever end?

Robert

[Albert]

Would you consider this piece above to be a nonferrous buntmetal badge?

Robert

Hard to say. A mint zinc badge without the typical give aways such as base plates for the hook will look just as its brass counterpart. A weight comparison might tell. But genereraly speaking both types of metals were used.

[Robert P.]

Hard to say. A mint zinc badge without the typical give aways such as base plates for the hook will look just as its brass counterpart. A weight comparison might tell. But genereraly speaking both types of metals were used.

Albert,

For me it is not hard to say whether that particualr badge is zinc or tombak. I believe the very appearance of the badge gives us conclusive evidence that it's zinc. The catch plate is another reason to believe that it's a zinc piece. But it's appearance tells me it's zinc - dark gray metal with it's silver wash failing.
Are you saying there is a chance that it could be made from tombak, and had a silver wash applied? I suppose this could be possible...the tombak Ostmedal was manufactured this way. But I still feel the catch plate tells us it's a zinc base. Teach me something here.

Robert

Robert

[Albert]

...
Are you saying there is a chance that it could be made from tombak, and had a silver wash applied? I suppose this could be possible...the tombak Ostmedal was manufactured this way. But I still feel the catch plate tells us it's a zinc base. ...

Robert,

I don't see a base plate. Do you mean the width of the catch? Can we see close ups of the catch and hinge? Are there recess areas? I would not necessarily consider the use of a wide catch as a dead give away. The reaction of the finish on the back indeed looks like often seen on zinc badges; but also on Buntmetall badges. Robert, you have the badge in hand... much easier for you to tell what it is made of than for someone who only has pics. If you say it's zinc, its zinc, I trust your opinion. From those two pics I could not say either way for sure.

Albert