Week 28 - March 26th - 30th

In the woodwind shop this week, we took a very hard look at the saxophone and made a few tools to help us along the way. First up, we made pearl protectors. Like clarinet, saxophone pads are floated in using glue. To melt that glue we use fire, and we use this pearl protector to save the pearl from that fire. We shaped a brass rod to fit the back of a modified flute pad cup, silver soldered it on and buffed it clean.

 Next up on the tools list, we made pad protectors for times when we flex the pad cup during padding. This week, we started re-padding saxophones and setting up their regulations. The sax is a complex instrument that takes all of the troubles of flute, clarinet and brass and mashes them together into a mix of mechanical mayhem. It is very cool. A good portion of our week was spent on learning how the regulations were set up, and how to adjust them.

Back to tool making, we ended up honing the other end of our toolbit this week. This shape is what our instructors are calling the "uber" end, and is designed to help us cut clarinet tenons. So, after honing our bits, we began a lathe project. We faced and drilled out a piece of  1 1/4" ABS plastic so that over the next couple of weeks, we can cut tenons into it as if it were a clarinet. After that is done, we are going to mess one of them up and do a tenon replacement.

Week 27 - March 19th - 23rd

This week in the woodwind lab, we continued with play condition repairs on flute with a large focus on padding. Getting back into partial shimming is not the easiest thing in the world. So on this particular flute, I checked each pad for issues and reshimmed a few to pretty much finish it up.

One issue that I did attack was some serious lateral play in the Bb thumb assembly. With the amount that I had, usually on a PC we would swedge the rod. Unfortunately, this was having little effect and the play was messing with my padding. So I replaced the existing hinge rod with an oversized one. This involved making a hinge rod from scratch, refitting the keys, lapping the hinge tube to the new rod, and realigning the post that happened to be out of whack. It turned into more work than it was worth, but a good experience none the less.

 We started getting into saxophone this week, mostly looking at how they are put together and what controls things like venting and regulation. Sax is a cool instrument and the mechanics fascinate me. We spend a good portion of the week tearing them down and putting them back together. Unlike flute or clarinet, there is no standard for how a sax is mechanically constructed, as long as the fingering works, so it was quite the puzzle.

Finally this week, we looked at honing lathe bits. We do a lot of small machining in the shop for both brass an woodwind parts. Grinding and honing our own bits is a good skill to have, especially when you look at running your own shop. Next week, we will look at grinding different shapes and working bits from scratch.

Week 26 - March 12th - 16th

 Welcome Back. After a week long break here in Red Wing, we find ourselves back in the Brass Lab for one final day of finishing up projects. So at the beginning of this week, I finally turned my attentions back to the cornet and finished it up for the customer. I began by finishing the buffing on the slides and degreasing the entire horn. The horn got lacquered and ready for assembly.

 As the customer asked for a few other things to be cleaned up on the horn as well. So after I assembled and ported the horn, I quickly polished his mouthpiece and buffed his lyre. All said and done, the horn was ready to head home.



We moved back to the Woodwind Lab early this week and began reviewing some basic skills from last November. We looked at doing play condition repairs on clarinets, such as padding and key corking, and finally worked on flute padding. A good week of review to get our hands back into the game.

Week 25 - February 27th - March 2nd

This week was the final week here in the brass lab. It has given me a chance to finish up a few projects. First off, on my project trombone, finished work on my hand slide. I buffed the inside of the outer tubes using a lathe and a small diameter trombone slide mandrel. I also buffed the inner slides with white compound. This has greatly improved the action of the hand slide.

To finish off the handslide, I reinstalled the water key. Unfortunately, the bridge was in the wrong spot. To fix this, I un-soldered the bridge and reattached it. After that, the trombone was cleaned and put back in its case.

 To continuing work on the antique trombone, I had to solder a patch on the outer tube. To do this, I cut a scrap tube to length and cut a slit in it. The tube was annealed and fit around the existing outer.  The patch was soldered on and cleaned up. I removed all of the dents from the bell using a dent machine and re-soldered the bell on as well.

 After the bell was reattached, I began to align and fix the slides. During this, one of the nickel sliver inner tube stockings broke off. I manufactured a new one using a Getzen inner main tuning slide tube, and soldered it on. I finished up the handslide dents and buffed the inners and the inside of the outers.

To finish up the trombone, I had to solder a shim into the taper in order to tighten the friction fit. I polished the entire trombone thoroughly with silver polish, and the trombone was as finished as I can get it. The last step would be to send it to a company in order to touch up the plating. If I can afford it, I may look into that option in the future.

The only other instrument I have on my bench is the Olds Ambassador Cornet. The buffing of the horn was already complete. I removed the lacquer off of the slides and buffed them. Finally, I buffed the caps. Everything is ready to be degreased and lacquered. Unfortunately, the shop is out of lacquer right now, so the lacquer may have to wait for a while.

I've begun working on making tools again. The first set of tools I plan to make is a tonehole leveling set for clarinets. I cut up various sizes of stainless steel rods into 2" shanks that will be shaped into flat, convex and concave ends. When they are finished, I will stick self adhesive sandpaper  to the ends that will be able to perfectly finish toneholes.