TombaK ?

[ROBB]

Hello all a bit of a basic question, could someone tell me what Tombak is and what it means in terms of collectibility of an award ,Thankyou Rob

[Don D.]

Tombak is a brass alloy and holds the finish better than most other metals. It will also still be around long after zink badges have turned to dust.

[Den]

Okay guys, I was wrong, you were right so I removed the answer I posted.

regards Den

[Albert]

... Tombak is ... another word for buntmetall.
buntmetall or tombak stands for all non magnetic metall like ... zink...

Where did this purely wrong definition come from? As Don said Tombak is a brass alloy. I will add that it has a high copper content (>70%).

[Den]

Where did this purely wrong definition come from? As Don said Tombak is a brass alloy. I will add that it has a high copper content (>70%).

This 'wrong' defnition comes from Philippe db. and we all know who he is and that he knows what he's talking about.

Den

[Albert]

This 'wrong' defnition comes from Philippe db. and we all know who he is and that he knows what he's talking about.

Den

Very interesting the way you worded your response... He does, I do, you don't.

Please read this and you too will understand since you seem to have missed the point:

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koperlegering

Here is the relevant part for you:

<TABLE border=1><TBODY><TR><TD>Cu Zn 15</TD><TD>getrokken messing (tombak) bestaande uit 100% - 15% = 85% koper (Cu) en 15% zink (Zn)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

While Tombak, being a copper alloy, falls in the family of the "Buntmetalle" it is neither a synonym for that term nor for any of the metals within that family! To illustrate the difference: newspapers fall into the category of mass media but the term "newspaper" is neither a synonym for "mass media" nor a synonym for "radio".

[Don D.]

This 'wrong' defnition comes from Philippe db. and we all know who he is and that he knows what he's talking about.

Den

Even Philippe has been known to make a mistake now and then. Never take anyone person's word as gospell. Heck, I remember that even Frank H made a mistake once.

[R. Schmitt]

Tombak is a .... It will also still be around long after zink badges have turned to dust.

Oh how very true, Don!

[ROBB]

Tombak is a brass alloy and holds the finish better than most other metals. It will also still be around long after zink badges have turned to dust.

Cheers Don and others .Rob

[skip]

The easy answer is the direct translation

Buntmetal= Non Ferrous Metal

Strictly speaking zinc also counts as "Buntmetal"

Skip

[Bob Hritz]

Buntmetal is a term commonly used when the majority of the metal, in the alloy, is a noble metal: copper or nickle. Tombak must be over 70% copper.

Bob hritz

[Mike Kenny]

Hi Rob,

Albert's Post#6 and Skip's Post#10 pretty much sum up tombak and buntmetal. The one thing that hasn't been explicitly stated in the thread is that tombak is a yellow colour.

On a personal note, wherever possible I would encourage the use of a more specific term instead of the "bucket" word "buntmetal". If it's zinc, call it zinc. It's it's neusilber/nickel-silver/"German silver", call it that.

To address the second part of your question, tombak will normally indicate earlier production, so when it comes to awards it is more desirable to have the earlier (and implied better quality and finished) tombak examples over later zinc examples. Tombak examples therefore tend to be more expensive.

On the other hand, some awards/variations were ONLY produced in zinc alloy, or other late war alloys. So eg a tombak numbered assault badge would be indicative of a fake. It is not possible to have a representative TR war badge collection without some zinc examples.

Regards
Mike

[Den]

Well I have to put some things right here I guess, a few days ago I posted an answer on this thread about Tombak and my explanation about tombak came out all wrong, this is how it is, a few years ago I asked Philippe DB what tombak was and he send me a long and excellent explanation about the subject, it was the same explanation you guys gave but only more refined, so I gave an answer that wasn't quite correct, I only used a fragment of Philippe's story and that put the whole story in a wrong consept then it should, only due to my bad translation from Dutch to English, so some of you said that even Philippe makes mistakes and that is not true, it was me who had it all wrong and i'm sorry about that, I had no right to use Philippe's name in my answer, for that my apology.
I hope no one was affended in any way by my story.

Best regards Dennis

[Albert]

Heh Dennis, noone is offended, if I may speak for the others.
BR,
Albert

[Den]

Heh Dennis, noone is offended, if I may speak for the others.
BR,
Albert

Thanks Albert, good to hear that.

Den