Cleaning rust of lacquered sax
Drnogood2
A repair person wants to clean the rust and gunk off a vintage sax where the
lacuqer is worn. Is it better to have him do that or leave the surface as is?
Is that a patina?
Thanks,
Gary
Michael
eaten away (usually by salt air) but that is rare. It usually just
tarnishes, which is simply a discoloration of the metal surface.
The only way to "clean" that is with a metal polish, which, by it's nature,
is abrasive and will therefore remove even more lacquer. Plus polishes are
messy so unless you plan to take all the keys off I would not even consider
this as an option.
I will say that I have used liquid metal polish to brighten up the large
patch that frequently gets worn off on the bell where is rubs against your
body. I then used a good quality car wax, the thick paste kind, to put a
protective coating over the bare area. I would only recommend this where
there are no keys near by.
I am not a big fan of relacquering a horn. If you have a really quality sax
you might consider having it gold plated. Hope this helps, Michael.
Stephen Howard
It depends. Patina is a subjective term, and whilst some people might
decribe it as a dull finish, others consider it to be merely dirty.
There won't be any rust, apart perhaps from that on the steel springs
- which would need to be replaced anyway.
Brass doesn't form a patina like some other non-ferrous metal do - or
rather it's less inclined to.
A proper brass patina will be slightly shiny, with a very definite
crystalline structure showing. If you don't have this then you merely
have a grubby finish. If you have green spots ( not black, mind ) then
you have verdigris, which you'd be well advised to have removed.
When your chap says he wants to remove the gunk, what exactly does he
mean?
It's often a better bet to simply scrub the metal with a detergent
solution rather than take the unlaquered metal back to a shiny finish.
Quite difficult to advise on really without actually seeing the horn.
Regards,
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
Emails to: shwoodwind{who is at}bigfoot{dot}com
Mark Bushaw
all the gunk, inside and out. This leaves a very clean finish, and in my
opinion does not remove any metal. The transition between pale bare brass
and vintage lacquer is not pretty at first, but the brass will quickly dull
and you end up with a clean, old looking horn. A friend of mine recently
bought a rebuilt Mk VI bari from Oleg, and that horn had been dipped, so at
least some people still do this.
Mark Bushaw
"Drnogood2" <drno...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20001129005728...@ng-fh1.aol.com...
mwitthoft
disgusting red crud that shows up on a brass horn where lacquer is
dying? And how can it be made a little less disgusting without hurting
the horn?
"Michael" <mir...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Brass does not "rust". It can corrode, where some of the metal is
actually
> eaten away (usually by salt air) but that is rare. It usually just
> tarnishes, which is simply a discoloration of the metal surface.
>
--
Morgan in Austin
(Do not ReplyTo the @Deja address. Send email to
m7wit...@austin8.rr.com after
first removing all NUMERICs from that address.)
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Holland
used,Hydrochloric or Sulphuric?
Probably the latter as Hydrochloric may lead to Verdigris do you
think? Any idea of the concentration. rhol...@ozemail.com.au
On Wed, 29 Nov 2000 16:45:12 GMT, "Mark Bushaw" <MBu...@aol.com>
wrote:
>At one time it was popular to dip a horn in a very mild acid bath to clean
>all the gunk, inside and out. This leaves a very clean finish, and in my
>opinion does not remove any metal. The transition between pale bare brass
>and vintage lacquer is not pretty at first, but the brass will quickly dull
>and you end up with a clean, old looking horn. A friend of mine recently
>bought a rebuilt Mk VI bari from Oleg, and that horn had been dipped, so at
>least some people still do this.
>Mark Bushaw
>"Drnogood2" <drno...@aol.com> wrote in message
>news:20001129005728...@ng-fh1.aol.com...
JB
just make sure it is at least 18 molar. Seriously though, I wouldnt really
use acid on a horn myself, I would bring it to a trusted repairman and ask
for an acid bath.
--
John B.
"Holland" <rhol...@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:3a39806d...@news.bigpond.com...
Mark Bushaw
about after adding chlorine, you need to add acid to balance the ph again.)
Again, let me stress- very dilute!
Mark Bushaw
Drnogood2
intact?
Gary
Mark Bushaw
flaking or bubbled, it will probably come off in those areas. I am not
aware of any damage to good lacquer, but many horns today are not lacquered,
they are epoxy painted. I have no idea what would happen to these horns. I
would test in an inconspicuous spot (say the underside of the low C key).
No, I take that back, I would have a long talk with some very experienced,
still working repair techs. I would also consider contacting one of the
repair schools to see if they have any current data. My experience dates
from a short mid 70's apprenticeship followed by almost no follow on work (a
little knowledge is a very dangerous thing indeed!).
Mark Bushaw
"Drnogood2" <drno...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20001217202413...@ng-fw1.aol.com...
Russell Schneider
etch-clenz, exoclean, slime away, and a select few are going away from
acids, and going to ultrasonic...but equipment to soak horns in is quite
expensive. The shop I work at dips brass instruments (and saxophones) in
etch-clenz (1 part acid 4 parts water) for 5-10 minutes. On very dirty
pieces we will put it in miratic (once again, watered down, but no real
recipe. If it isn't working well, we add more acid, if it turns bare
brass pink quickly we add more water) for 1 minute max (french horn
rotors are an exception..they may sit in there 10 minutes but I don't
think you care about that). Many times on saxophones the horn will be
immersed in the etch clenz, rinsed, and then let some miriatic soak in
the bow section for a little while.
hope this helped a little
--
Russ
(formerly russe...@aol.com)
Holland
Muriatic Acid seems to be an alternate commercial name for
Hydrochloric Acid, used by builders for washing down stained
brickwork,and as you say, for swimming pool maintenance.
A Merry Xmas and a prosperous New Year to you all .
Richard Holland
On Sun, 17 Dec 2000 11:38:51 -0800, "Mark Bushaw" <MBu...@aol.com>
wrote: