HB baseplate material specifications

[Jure]

Hi everyone,
I am trying to make my own humbucker baseplates. I contacted the supplier of nickel silver and the first question was what kind of nickel silver do you need CuNi12Zn24 or CuNi18Zn20? I believe CuNi18Zn20 is correct??? And the second question was do you need it soft, semi hard or hard. To me the baseplate seems pretty hard, but if it is classified as soft, semi hard or hard I don’t know. Can someone please help? Thank you.

[David King]

I doubt the alloy matters too much but I would go with dead soft or semi hard if you want to bend the ears without them snapping off.
The 12% Nickel will be softer and easier to draw if fretwire is any indication. 18% Ni is presumably a little tougher to work with.

[Jure]

Thank you David. I totally agree. The most important is to bend the material without braking. I got the 18% nickel content on Adiction FX site. It seems they are using the Nickel Silver with 18%. My intention is to laser cut it and CNC bend it. I am currently waiting for their offer, if it is cost effective I will probably start my small production

[David King]

Laser cutting metal is going to be more expensive than water jet unless you know someone with a big laser.

[Jure]

I received the first offer and I am waiting for the second. The price for cutting and bending in first offeris really low even though I plan to order relatively small number of baseplates. When I add the price of material the cost of one baseplate will be way cheaper than buying from one of the usual suppliers of pickup parts. Don't forget shipping costs from US are not small and on top of that there is customs and we also have 22% tax. Right now I am struggling with Solidworks to make a dxf for a baseplate. Of course the dxf will be reviewed by my friend who deals professionally with CNC programing. I will post the progress.

[WolfeMacleod]

You want 18%

[Jure]

Thanks Wolf. 18% is what I will use. Semi hard and 0.7mm (0,027”) thick.