I just got this old Kay. I noticed some yellow/green white tinted paint on the coordinator rod nuts. I was wondering what it was. As a hypochondriac it looked far too similar to aged radium lume paint for my liking. Does anyone know what this is? Thanks!
Edited by - danielgardnerphillips on 12/06/2024 20:56:04
Could it be torque putty? As a retired aircraft mechanic, it was applied to threaded parts, to aid in inspection, to see if parts had moved or been tampered with. It started out white, but with age, it could turn yellowish.
Edited by - Dean T on 12/06/2024 19:40:05
From what little I can see of your banjo, it looks to be a post WWII Kay. I may venture further and say late 50’s, early 60’s. Very doubtful it would be radium paint as your banjo would be too late as use of that paint was pretty much phased out by that time.
Might be some type of oxidation. Most of that pots parts are aluminum. Maybe they mixed in a bit of spent plutonium to strengthen the parts and give the pot some weight and heft.
Thanks a lot! I’ve been looking around the internet and a lot of the old kay’s seem to have the same discoloration/paint on the rod, nuts or both. But not on any other hardware.
The hardware was the cheapest they could find, probably zinc plated crap. The combination of the products of oxidation plus air quality (nicotine?) plus time = coloration.
Galvanic corrosion.
Don't listen to those ^^ guys, Daniel .... yer banjo is radioactive!! 
However, it reminds me of back in high school ... the era of luminous watch dials and all that rot .... our science teacher informed us that the level of radiation would kill us in about 2900 years.
[I don't know how accurate his numbers were, or if he'd done any actual calculation, but in general he wasn't one to be facetious .... unlike my ^^ first statement. 
]
I was 95% sure it wasn’t an issue but I needed some reassurance. Thank you all!
quote:
Originally posted by OwenDon't listen to those ^^ guys, Daniel .... yer banjo is radioactive!!
...In general he wasn't one to be facetious .... unlike my ^^ first statement.
The women who licked their brushes brushes between applying fine details to dials had horrible early deaths one and all. However, it did lead to Workman's Compensation legislation in the U.S.
The stuff does glow in the dark. Do the banjo nuts glow?
Might want to wick some penetrating oil on some of the threads in case it ever needs to be taken down for some reason.
quote:
Originally posted by davidpppquote:
Originally posted by OwenDon't listen to those ^^ guys, Daniel .... yer banjo is radioactive!!
...In general he wasn't one to be facetious .... unlike my ^^ first statement.
The women who licked their brushes brushes between applying fine details to dials had horrible early deaths one and all. However, it did lead to Workman's Compensation legislation in the U.S.
The stuff does glow in the dark. Do the banjo nuts glow?
No they don't glow.
Have you considered limescale like you might get on the element of a kettle? Moisture in the air where u live or where the banjos been in the past?
Oops big fingers wee phone hence the pic sorry
yup, corrosion plus perhaps a bit of mildew.
Carnotite?
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