I examined and photgraphed Shea's sword and it was aluminum. I don't know why the langet photo came thru so dark. All of these Voos anomalies are aluminum, except Roger's sword.
The technical aspects of sword construction can be confusing for various reasons, and we have to try to sort it out as we go. I always appreciate your knowledge and input on these subjects, as you have contributed a lot to the understanding of this discipline, or 'hobby', as many say.
I haven't seen a dictionary definition of "Tombak", it's not in my Harper-Collins Ger/Engl edition. Maybe you can post more of what you've found. Was it a technical dictionary? What you described is similar to brass, which is usually 65% copper and 35% zinc. The zinc is what gives the alloy its golden color. This word "Tombak" may be the proverbial 'contradiction-in-terms'conundrum; or confusion reigns! A lot of Third Reich badges and medals are made of zinc or an affiliated alloy. It was the one metal that they had a surplus of, and they really used it. Maybe the catchy moniker for this metal was "Tombak"? A very sentient German sword collecting colleague of mine is mystified about the definition of the term as well, and he was born and raised in Remscheid, a tool and die town across the Wupper from Solingen. In a Google search two years ago, I came up primarily with the Canadian version of "Tombac", which is heavy in nickel. There was little if anything on Tombak, as I recall. This term needs researched some more, for sure.
I really think that Pack & Co. took license and great liberty with their use of the term, and their touting of the word was to cover a cost cutting/profit enhancing effort. The green tinge to Pack's "Tombak" sword hilts is indicative of the high zinc content, a similar effect which can be seen on most zinc die cast Eickhorn Prinz Eugen's. Copper plating would have helped to eliminate most of this 'bleeding', but after Sept, 1939 copper was in short supply.
Perhaps Wotan or others may have some knowledge of "Tombak"?
