Editing Saxophone (section)

===Materials===
From the earliest days of the saxophone the body and key cups have been made from sheet brass stock, which can be worked into complex shapes. The keywork is manufactured from other types of brass stock.  [[King Musical Instruments|King]] made saxophones with necks and bells of sterling silver from the 1930s into the early 1960s. Yanagisawa revived this idea in the 1980s and later introduced instruments entirely made of sterling silver.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.yanagisawasax.co.jp/en/tenor/9937/ |title=T9937 |publisher=Yanagisawa website |access-date=2008-01-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071230212350/http://www.yanagisawasax.co.jp/en/tenor/9937/ |archive-date=2007-12-30}}</ref>  
[[Julius Keilwerth|Keilwerth]] and [[Paul Mauriat|P. Mauriat]] have used [[nickel silver]], a copper-nickel-zinc alloy more commonly used for flutes, for the bodies of some saxophone models.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pmauriatmusic.com/products_detail.php?cde=PDT489a5f02713a9 |title=PMST-60NS |publisher=Paul Mauriat website |access-date=2008-08-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081208134628/http://www.pmauriatmusic.com/products_detail.php?cde=PDT489a5f02713a9 |archive-date=December 8, 2008 }}</ref> 
For visual and tonal effect, higher copper [[Aluminum brass|variants of brass]]  are sometimes substituted for the more common "yellow brass" and "cartridge brass." [[Yanagisawa Wind Instruments|Yanagisawa]] made its 902 and 992 series saxophones with the high copper alloy [[phosphor bronze]] to achieve a darker, more "vintage" tone than the brass 901 and 991 models.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saxophones.co.uk/yanagisawa.htm |title=Yanagisawa Saxophones |access-date=2014-05-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616142348/http://saxophones.co.uk/yanagisawa.htm |archive-date=June 16, 2009 }}</ref>

Other materials are used for some mechanical parts and keywork. Buttons where the fingers contact the keys are usually made from plastic or [[mother of pearl]]. Rods, screw pins, and springs are usually made of [[Bluing (steel)|blued]] or [[stainless steel]]. Mechanical buffers of felt, cork, leather, and various synthetic materials are used to minimize mechanical noise from key movement and to optimize the action of the keywork. Nickel silver is sometimes used for hinges for its advantages of mechanical durability, although the most common material for such applications has remained brass.

Manufacturers usually apply a finish to the surface of the instrument's body and keywork.  The most common finish is a thin coating of clear or colored [[acrylic lacquer]] to protect the brass from oxidation and maintain a shiny appearance. Silver or gold plating are offered as options on some models. Some silver plated saxophones are also lacquered.  Plating saxophones with gold is an expensive process because an underplating of silver is required for the gold to adhere to.<ref name=jazzbarisax>{{cite web|url=http://www.jazzbarisax.com/brands|publisher= JazzBariSax.com|title=The Horn}}</ref> Nickel plating has been used on the bodies of early budget model saxophones and is commonly used on keywork when a more durable finish is desired, mostly with student model saxophones. Chemical surface treatment of the base metal has come into use as an alternative to the lacquer and plating finishes in recent years.