Band I was in for a while had a washboard (I played jug. Yes, it was THAT kind of band). We picked ours up from Lark in the Morning.

I think the ones our player used were the zinc kind. Don't remember them rusting, but they weren't very heavy and did look kinda tin-ish.

I think I'm frightened by the "Zydeco Tie" from the above site though... *shudder*

M