Posted by Anode about this.. on June 27, 2003 at 14:55:38:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Weight difference/plating posted by Joe Baker on June 27, 2003 at 12:29:02:
Silver will only plate where there's a clear path to the anode. While I'm not completely sure about this, I suspect that the ratios involve nearly an inverse-square relationship of the distance from the anode. In truth, the distant "nooks and crannies" don't get much plating at all.
Pull an old silverplated tuba apart and buff the components. You'll find that the part of the upper bow that's nearest the bell has very little plating on it, even though it gets almost no wear at all.
As Joe mentioned, a little plating gets inside the horn, but not much, and almost all of that inside the large part of the bell--almost nothing in the smaller branches, other than what happens (0.5 micron or so--you can just about see through it) by purely chemical ion exchange.