Tombac, or tombak, is a

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...

alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductili ...

with high

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

content and 5–20%

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

content. Tin,

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, b ...

may be added for colouration. It is a cheap malleable alloy mainly used for

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

s, ornament, decoration and some

munition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other wea ...

s. In older use, the term may apply to brass alloy with a zinc content as high as 28–35%.

Etymology

The term ''tombak'' is derived from ''tembaga'', an Indonesian/ Malay word of Javanese origin meaning copper. ''Tembaga'' entered Dutch usage concurrent with their

colonisation Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

. Likely, the term was used generically to describe Indonesian high-copper brass items, including

gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...

gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

s. It is one of the very few Indonesian loan words used in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Common types

* Modern CuZn15 (DIN: CuZn15 ; UNS: C23000 ; BS: CW 502L (CZ 102) ; ISO: CuZn15) - tombak with a

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

colour, very good for cold forming, suitable for pressing,

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

ing, or embossing * modern CuZn12 (not standardized) - same characteristics and applications as CuZn15, slightly different colour * modern CuZn10 (DIN: CuZn10; UNS: C22000; BS: CW 501L (CZ 101); ISO: CuZn10) - similar characteristics and applications as CuZn15 und CuZn12, noticeable reddish colour * modern white tombac - CuZn10 that is zinc content 10%, with trace arsenic * modern enamel tombac or ''emailler tombak'' - an alloy of 95% copper and 5% zinc, suitable for enamelling, therefore the name. Ure notes the following forms of ''tombak'' in widespread use during the time the text was published (1856): *"Gilting tombac": **Copper 82%, zinc 18%, lead 1.5%, tin 3% **Copper 82%, zinc 18%, lead 3%, tin 1% **Copper 82%, zinc 18%, lead, tin 0.2% *"

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

tombac for sword handles", pommels and fittings: copper 80%, zinc 17%, 3% tin *"Yellow tombac of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

" for gilt ornaments: copper 85%, zinc 15%, trace% tin *"

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

tombac": copper 85.3%, zinc 14.7% * Chrysochalk: copper 86%, zinc 14% *"Red tombac of Paris": copper 90%, zinc 7.9%, 1.5% lead *"Red tombac of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

": copper 97.8%, zinc 2.2% Piggot states the brass used for

machinery A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolecul ...

and

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...

s in England was composed of copper 74.5%, zinc 25%, and lead 0.5%, which would make it a tombac according to Ure.Aaron Snowden Piggot, ''The chemistry and metallurgy of copper'', Lindsay and Blakiston: 1858: 388 pages: pp354, google book reference

/ref> Piggot's own definition of tombak is problematic at best: "red brass, or tombak, as it is called by some, has a great preponderance of copper, from 5 ounces of zinc down to 1/4 ounce of zinc to the pound f copper"

Tempers

Typical tempers are soft annealed and rolled hard.

Applications

Tombac is soft and easy to work by hand: hand tools can easily

punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pu ...

, cut, enamel, repousse, engrave, gild, or etch it. It has a higher sheen than most brasses or copper, and does not easily tarnish. Historically, it was used by the Javanese as a ''faux'' gold finish for ''objects d'art'' and ornaments. * Most commonly, tombac in modern society is used in medals and

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

s of lesser importance, such as the German Oldenburg Long-Service Medallion for their Gendarmerie. *The ''

Pickelhaube The ( pl. ; from german: Pickel, lit=point' or 'pickaxe, and , , a general word for "headgear"), also , is a spiked helmet that was worn in the 19th and 20th centuries by Prussian and German military officers, firefighters and police. Althoug ...

'' and ''

cuirass A cuirass (; french: cuirasse, la, coriaceus) is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The word probably originates from the original material, leather, from the French '' cuirac ...

'' of the Imperial German and

Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

were at one time made of tombac. * German, particularly Prussian, field

uniform A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, ...

s (which were also sold to equip the White Russians), had

button A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, o ...

s and decorative fittings made of tombac. * Currently, tombac foils are used in arts and crafts for decorative articles, especially as an economic alternative to very expensive

gold leaf Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-kara ...

. * Industry uses tombac foil for heating foils and etch applications. *

Gilding metal Gilding metal is a form of brass (an alloy of copper and zinc) with a much higher copper content than zinc content. Exact figures range from 95% copper and 5% zinc to “8 parts copper to 1 of zinc” (11% zinc) in British Army Dress Regulations. ...

is a type of tombac which is one of the most common jacketing materials for full metal and hollow-point jacketed bullets. * The 1980 Olympic 'Bronze' medals were actually tombac. * During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

minted 5-cent pieces ( nickels) in tombac in 1942 and 1943. * The German military used it for some combat medals during World War II. * The Swedish armed forces adopted a special-service round for the

Carl Gustav m/45 The Kulsprutepistol m/45 (Kpist m/45), also known as the Carl Gustaf M/45 and the Swedish K SMG, is a 9×19mm Swedish submachine gun (SMG) designed by Gunnar Johansson, adopted in 1945 (hence the m/45 designation), and manufactured at the Carl ...

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

with a tombac-plated steel jacket surrounding the lead core of the bullet loaded in the cartridge. While the lands of the barrel can cut into the tombac, the steel jacket resists deformation and thus causes the gas pressure to rise higher than the previous soft-jacketed m/39, giving the 6,8-g (106-grain) bullet a muzzle velocity of . * Brass alloys, including tombak, are occasionally used in architecture, such as ornaments, roofs or outside wall plating. It withstands corrosion well.

References

External links