I had my "Ulrich von Schellenberg" hackbut "shot" by an x-ray analyzer today to see what it was made of. I had always thought the metal would be similar to cannons, namely gunmetal, which is approximately 90% copper and 10% tin. Poor innocent, ignorant me! Here's what the analyzer came up with. The very high iron and lead percentages were quite a surprise. I wondered why there would be any aluminum at all, but some other things tested the same day which I know are antique, also showed around 3% aluminum. Go figure!
Test no. and ID:
#10-Bronze Hackbut ca. 1510, presumed to be bronze
Al – 3.62
Si – 7.24
P – 2.08
Ti - .33
Mn - .08
Fe – 17.23
Ni - .04
Cu – 24.68
Zr - .028
Sn – 5.16
Sb – 3.23
Ir – 2.84
Pb – 33.43
|