Umm, except zinc REPELS: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080124124044AAJNLRo

Is zinc magnetic?

is zinc magnetic

4 years ago Report Abuse

kumorifo...

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Zinc is classed as a diamagnetic element. Diamagnetic means it weakly repels magnetic fields, so it is not magnetic. The other two elemental forms of magnetism are paramagnetic (weak attraction, e.g. liquid oxygen) and ferromagnetic (strong attraction, e.g. iron).

4 years ago Report Abuse

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thxs

___

Am I missing something here? TAMADRM's input means LUDALLOY has zinc ... okay ... so what @ the shell I have? Am I the only one here unsatisfied w/ my shell's magnetism? I do not think the mystery has been solved yet - no offense to KELLYJ's "maybe".

H

Hmmmm.

All I know is there is a slight iron content in Ludaloy. Here's the facts from my observations. Believe me, as a kid I played with a lot of magnets, esp. on the shore of Lake Erie where we used magnets to go through the sand and extract iron filings from the sand and collect it in jars.

I know the feel of magnetism, even slight magnetism which I have felt on all three of my Supras using a light fridge magnet. The key in this test is to stick a small, light fridge magnet on the side of the drum, otherwise a larger, heavier magnet will fall off (because gravity pulling on the magnet from below will overcome the attraction of the slight magnetic field), giving the impression that there is not magnetism present.

Therefore, there is either a small amount of fe in Ludaloy or Zinc is magnetic

(we know aluminum is not magnetic at all) which we are to understand here is slightly averse to magnetism.

I think the real issue is not whether the average Supra is magnetic or not (we now know that a Supra is slightly magnetic in its Ludaloy form) but the real issue is determining if a pre-serial Supra is made of brass by using the now, very controversial "magnet test". Even a small fridge magnet would not stick to a brass shell, thus revealing the nature of the metallurgy under the chrome plating.

Try one of the small, cute little fridge magnets on the side of your drum and lets settle this thing!

-kellyj

Hey kellyj -

If you're specifically asking me to place a small magnet, I've already done 3 different types of small magnets. All STUCK, no problem.

W/ would be helpful if other cats out there would sift through their junk drawers for light magnets & report back. I've only the 1 Supra here.

Another thing: my snare is a '64, probably late '64. The ones you've tried are 70's-ish. PERHAPS by then the constituent makeup of Supra shells changed??? No one knows since record keeping wasn't a habit; & it seems Mr. Ludwig did not want anyone to know company secrets.

& another little thing: maybe it ain't FE doing the attracting. Maybe it's another metal. & even if there is FE, why the limp attraction -

H

Hobbs,

No offense drum buddy. This is a friendly conversation. My goal, as is yours is to tease out logical conclusions to a simple question.

I'm pretty certain though that iron is the only metal with a magnetic field.

-kellyj

John..shouldn't a 64 drum have a baseball bat red felt muffler?Maybe that indicates that this supra WAS a custom ordered steel shelled drum and a one of?

Hobbs ..I had that ludalloy info scribbled on a piece of paper,aluminum approx 87%and Zinc approx 13%.I don't remember where I got it from,but he was a knowledgeable Ludwig guy.In the book "A Thunder of Drums",Jeff Ocheltree states that Bonzo's LM 402's were all ludalloy and that metal was part zinc also.

Like I said above,it is entirely possible that your drum is the real deal custom ordered steel shelled supra.Maybe an expert eyes on exam is the only way to know for sure in as far as originality and value.For me at least,there are enough things to warrant the investment,to have a guy like John Aldridge give it a look.

Steve B

Okay - iron, nickel, cobalt - all magnetic.

I'm more artsy than scientific, no physics, a little chemistry long, long ago. I know there are science geeks who have an inkling in drumland @ this Q -

H

I took a fridge magnet and it stuck lightly to both my 68 Supra and 68 Supersensitive. It did not stick at all to my 75 Dyanasonic COB.......and....it did not stick at all to my 70's Acrolite...

I thought the Acro and Supra shared the same material in their shell construction? What gives?

Hey tamadrm -

The thing w/ zinc is, if my internet inofo's correct, that it " ... weakly repels magnetic fields."

Either there's something very weird about the snare parked here, or there's something very explainable @ the:

1) weight;

2) magnetism.

Yeah, of course, I'd like the thing to be rare, priceless snare; but this actually kinda interesting, odd, amusing & a little bit annoying all in one.

H

I can understand your frustration Hobbs. Reality bites sometimes...:confused:

Enter the Acrolite into the controversy...Welcome

-kellyj

Exactly why this post continues to interest me. The thing is, from experience, we have a right to be skeptical. I certainly was. But as Steve says - why couldn't this be a rare drum? If you looked at the whole picture - there's a company making snare drums very efficiently and searching for materials to do this with - it sounds completely logical that at some stage they made a few steel ones. You can't discount this fact. I for one would be taking it to an expert. Hobbs, I was planning to take both my drums to an accurate scale this afternoon - might be tomorrow now. But the point about the muffler is interesting too. And 7lbs seems heavy for a Supra. Btw, I am sure like kellyj that all the posts in the thread are meant with friendly intention. I would like a "case closed" as much as the next guy - haven't seen it yet. But I'm sure if you took the drum to an experienced Ludwig collector, it could be cleared up. On the bright side - no matter what - that's one nice looking drum, inside and outside.