Repairs that you will do yourself?

Ed

Ed

Founder
Staff member
Administrator
Last week I got annoyed with some clanking on my Yani bari. The high E was noisy due to the way it is designed and the side B flat had some play. Heat shrink tubing is my go to solution for these kinds of issues. I generally keep my attempts at repairs limited to corks (although not neck corks) and minor adjustments. I rarely change a pad but have in the past. Besides the repair guys like Steve does anyone else try to work on their own horns or do you just take them to the tech?
 
I just did a whole bunch of fine tuning work on my bass clarinet. It was mostly adding cork to the crow's foot linkage and the linkages to the register keys.

I've done neck corks, key corks, key height adjustments, shortened a barrel, repaired cracked mouthpiece shanks and a few other things, but I usually stay away from pads.
 
I restore/overhaul, and adjust all my horns at this point. Having acquired the skills over the years, I'm very much in the "if you want it done right, do it yourself" camp now.

The only thing I don't do myself is MAJOR dent work (I don't own all the necessary dent ball sets etc. to do a proper job of it).

I can relacquer a horn, but can only spot electroplate small areas.
 
saxismyaxe said:
I can relacquer a horn, but can only spot electroplate small areas.
Click to expand...
Most repair facilities shop out this work anyway. I envy guys who can do serious repair on their instruments. But I've found the world to be full of people who say they can but actually ruin more horns than they fix. (Of course, I have no knowledge of anyone's skill set on this thread except Steve's. And I own two of his horns.)
 
saxismyaxe said:
I restore/overhaul, and adjust all my horns at this point. Having acquired the skills over the years, I'm very much in the "if you want it done right, do it yourself" camp now.

The only thing I don't do myself is MAJOR dent work (I don't own all the necessary dent ball sets etc. to do a proper job of it).

I can relacquer a horn, but can only spot electroplate small areas.
Click to expand...

I too do as much work as possible. Not because I want to, but i can't seem to find a local tech who's reliable and does top notch work.

I would like to give dent removal a try, but the lack of tools is holding me back.

So what kind of buffing wheels do you use prior to relaquering ? I've got plenty of experience working with metal, but i don't have a good buffing setup. My Martin (What Martin doesn't) cornet could use some cosmetic touch up. And once buffed, what do you use to clean the brass before laquer is applied ?
 
Sorry to answer a bit late. I have a variety of hand buffing ragging tape, cloths, and buffing wheels (which I use sparingly) plus polishing compounds to prep the brass for lacquer. I don't have the fancy buffing motors advertised in the trade catalogs, but actually mount the wheels on wood working lathe/chuck. I craft Great Highland, Irish Uilleann bagpipes and renaissance Krum horns and shawms, so I had the pricey lathes (woodworking and metal lathes) already.

I use Ferrees Cold Strip to remove old lacquer. If the instrument has a lot of lime deposits, I will use the Ferrees Lime and Scale remover as well. I finish up with a warm water and soap bath, and proceed to lacquer. I have a spray booth setup in my workshop (converted garage), and a spray gun/compressor for application.

I really don't have any excuses for not venturing into the more severe dent removal procedures, other than perhaps the high cost of the necessary tools.
 
Last edited:
Dent removal is expensive. If you want to venture in it and do it correctly then you will need at least a couple thousand dollars to get started - and we're talking just for saxes. Ferrees offers a basic intro to dent removal. I took one years ago and 90% of the ppl there were asking questions about saxes. One brought a bent bari body which Gary then used a (very expensive) body mandrel on to fix .. all the way down to getting rid of those little annoying dents in flutes.

I've never done lacquering except for the odd neck (and clarinet keywork) as I know that is an expensive process to do right - just look at the Ferree catalog for a lacquer booth layout and the required equipment. they have a downloadable PDF catalog and price list .. just google them to find them.

I've also stopped using a separate bench motor and buff machine and found, with the correct accessories, that I can do about anything on my lathe.

hmm .... might just lacquer that metal clarinet. make it look like a "gold" clarinet ... or just a weird looking sax

But alot of people can learn some good basics on instrument repair or noise quieting. just ty and track down why an instrument is clanking and it's usually due to metal to metal contact. Something a nice 1/64th cork would quiet up nicely
 
Last edited:
I don't do any "repair" work on my horns...Other than "emergency" fixes if necessary to get through a show through whatever means necessary.

For maintenance, all I do is oil the keys once a year (if that), apply Charlie A's Gig Dust once a year as well, and on some horns (depending on what type of pads they have) apply lemon oil to the pads every 2 years (if that).

For everything else my horns go to the shop.

Unfortunately the really good, really nice, and really reasonably priced repair tech that I found when I moved back to BC, has since moved to Ontario. So I am left without a tech again. I do have leads on about 4 or 5 guys that have all been highly recommended to me. I just haven't had the need/time/$/inclination to deal with it. However something happened at my last show which has moved finding a tech up on my list of priorities.

During sound check a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a weird vibration on my Mark VI tenor. Took about 2 seconds to figure out that the Eb key guard had come unsoldered on one of its 3 solder points. :emoji_astonished: So I guess I'll have to give someone a call quick, before festival season starts. :eek:
 
Thanks for the advice. I tried to access Ferree's site, but it's down right now. Is this where you purchased your buffing wheels?

I have a single sided bench mounted motor with a long shaft for use as my buffer, once I acquire some decent buffing wheels. A lathe will have to wait until later, but I am keeping my eyes open for a bargain. I have a second garage at home, that was built and wired by a retired electrician. It's got 110 and 220 plugs at regular intervals all the way around the 3 walls. My plan is to convert that garage into a shop. I worked some years as a mold maker decades ago, and I have spent 100's of hours polishing metal by hand.(I have the worn off fingerprints to show for it.) So there's nothing new about that for me. But dent removal !!!! That holds up my buffing and polishing. I've got to learn some techniques.
 
I do minor repairs on my horns, that is replacing pads/felts/bumpers/cork/srpings and minor adjustments, and quick fixes (duct tape ;)) I leave the major stuff to my repairman cause I know he misses me :D
 
kcp said:
I do minor repairs on my horns, that is replacing pads/felts/bumpers/cork/srpings and minor adjustments, and quick fixes (duct tape ;)) I leave the major stuff to my repairman cause I know he misses me :D
Click to expand...

Don't forget superglue ! :emoji_relaxed:

I even used scotch tape when in a pinch. :emoji_rolling_eyes:
 
I've occasionally covered a leaky altissimo tonehole with tape for a quick fix (I played bari sax, bass clarinet and contrabass clarinet, mostly -- altissimo's not needed that much). I've occasionally had to replace corks, too. I can also reseat springs.

The most major "quick fix" repair was supergluing the body brace on my paperclip contrabass clarinet. That lasted for ... one practice. I had to get it in to a tech to resolder.

I try to take just about anything in to a tech. If he screws it up, he's gotta fix it :).
 
Nothing wrong with do-it-yourself repairs, even unconventional ones. Occasionally I have gotten someone out of trouble on a gig using masking tape, etc. Then the horn showed up for work years later with the "temporary" fix still in place.

On the other hand, there is no shame in letting the most experienced guy do the work. I've worked on horns for a long time, but when I wanted to add a keyguard to a brand new sax with tinted lacquer, I turned to the brass tech who works next to me. He's an absolute genius with a torch, and the result was an invisible repair.

One bit of advice, though. Using epoxy on a loose post usually doesn't work, it's hard to remove and still leave the finish pretty, and if any of it remains the fumes are not good for your repairman.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom