Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/01/01

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Subject: Re: M6 Titanium
From: D Khong <dkhong@pacific.net.sg>
Date: Thu, 2 Jan 1997 15:20:09 +0800 (SGT)

>>I do not agree with you at all. Resistance to cracking and plasticity are
>>not synonymous at all. Brass may not be a harder material than certain zinc
>>alloys, but it can be more plastic. This means that it will have a tendency
>>to deform rather than fracture.
>>
>I appreciate your comments, but my point is that the Leica engineers have a
>good reason for choosing a metal to build the M6s out of, and that it is not
>neccessarily the same reasons that Leicaphiles prefer brass to zinc (isn't
>brass an alloy of zinc and some other metal, or am I thinking of bronze?).
>Zinc is not a particularly hard metal, if I recall correctly, so I don't
>think that Leicas will split open if they fall.
>
>Some people think that if the M3 was brass, then therefore the M6 should be
>brass also,  regardless of the actual differences between zinc and brass.
>
>Dan C.
>
>

Brass is an alloy of Copper and Lead.  Bronze (harder than brass) is an
alloy of Copper and Tin.  My chemistry teacher made sure we knew the
composition. My history teacher reemphasized on the composition of bronze.
The bronze age was part of history.  It was eventually superceded by the
iron age.  They were able to achieve higher temperatures by that time and
were therefore able to extract iron out of ore.  The warriors with iron
weapons were superior to those wielding bronze ones.

So is it confirmed beyond doubt that the M6 Titanium has a brass body?

Dan Khong