A few things have happened this week in the brass lab. We received our project trombones and began studying slide repair, and I managed to finish my french horn.
To start, the trombone I received is an Olds Ambassador. The lacquer had been stripped off of the bell, but it was in pretty good shape overall. I removed all of the bumper material from inside the cork barrels and swabbed out the slide with both a brass brush and cheese cloth. The horn was then chem flushed and all of the dents were removed from the bell and main tuning slide.
Moving back to the french horn, there was much problem solving left to be done to fix the fourth lever. First off, to get the key to fit I had to burnish the hinge tube so the new hinge rod would fit through. After doing this, I had to make a washer to make the hinge tube longer and remove end play. Using the lathe and the same techniques I used on the flute hinge tube, I created a washer that was the exact size needed.
To prepare the stop arm to work with a new ball-socket system, I had to drill out the existing hole where the lever screw would fit and replace it with a bushing. I soldered the bushing into the arm and drilled it out. The hole was threaded and counter-bored to receive the new post.
Once the arm was set, the new lever was marked out and drilled. I cut it down to a manageable size and buffed it to match the other levers. The threaded rod between sockets was measured and cut. The sockets were then greased and the new system installed. Unfortunately, the stop arm retaining screw hindered the lever's movement. The head of the screw was filed down to fit under the lever and the rotor was assembled.
Once the fourth lever was set, it was quick work greasing all of the slides and oiling the other rotors. The horn was assembled and wiped down and passed a play test. The case vacuumed and the project was turned in for grading. Soon I will post a page dedicated to the french horn project. If you have any questions, please post a comment or email me at airbandrepair@gmail.com.
To start, the trombone I received is an Olds Ambassador. The lacquer had been stripped off of the bell, but it was in pretty good shape overall. I removed all of the bumper material from inside the cork barrels and swabbed out the slide with both a brass brush and cheese cloth. The horn was then chem flushed and all of the dents were removed from the bell and main tuning slide.
Moving back to the french horn, there was much problem solving left to be done to fix the fourth lever. First off, to get the key to fit I had to burnish the hinge tube so the new hinge rod would fit through. After doing this, I had to make a washer to make the hinge tube longer and remove end play. Using the lathe and the same techniques I used on the flute hinge tube, I created a washer that was the exact size needed.
To prepare the stop arm to work with a new ball-socket system, I had to drill out the existing hole where the lever screw would fit and replace it with a bushing. I soldered the bushing into the arm and drilled it out. The hole was threaded and counter-bored to receive the new post.
Once the arm was set, the new lever was marked out and drilled. I cut it down to a manageable size and buffed it to match the other levers. The threaded rod between sockets was measured and cut. The sockets were then greased and the new system installed. Unfortunately, the stop arm retaining screw hindered the lever's movement. The head of the screw was filed down to fit under the lever and the rotor was assembled.
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