Week 10- Soldering, Lathe Projects, and More

The next lathe project was creating a trumpet main tuning slide mandrel.  Made of brass, the mandrel is sized to the most common diameter of main tuning slides (0.458").  The mandrel can be used for forming, burnishing, and even some swedging type repairs. 

First, I faced one end of the brass rod.  Then in a few consecutive passes, I turned the diameter of the brass rod down to the 0.458" measurement. The next step was center drilling and tapping the rod to allow a handle to be inserted into the mandrel.  A final cut and facing of the opposite side produced the final product seen below.

Alongside the lathe project was a soft solder job.  After filing a brass rod down to fit the arc on a bare trumpet bell, soft solder was used to attach the rod to the trumpet bell.  After the initial solder, I had to wipe to tin and hand buff the bell and brass rod brace.

The end result produced a high shine finish with nearly all traces of solder removed from the area surrounding the brace.

Week 9- Welcome to Brass Lab

The halfway point of the semester means that we move workshops.  We are now in the brass lab.  Immediately we went to work on trumpet nomenclature.  We took apart our trumpets, learned about the various parts and the metals they were made of.  In order to do any work on aligning the piston valves, Greg Beckwith helped us make a porting tool.  

This was our first time silver soldering.  I was successful in soldering my part at a 90 degree angle.  After sanding and buffing, I was able to use my porting tool for the first time!

Using plastic tubing, I can mark the height of the knuckle to the valve threads.  From there, I am able to make sure the down stroke of the piston lines up precisely between the port and the knuckle.

Piston valves are an extremely interesting system.  By simply lining up ports with their respective knuckles, specific lengthening and shortening of tubing on the instrument produce different notes.  The tolerance between the piston and the valve casing is only 0.010".  With measurements this small, it is important to be extremely precise with our maintenance and repairs.

To finish off the week we marked trombone bells with marker to show the direction of the buffing wheel.  After completing the buffing of my trombone bell I am looking forward to a lathe project, a soft soldering project, and more practice on repairing and maintaining brass instruments next week.

Week 8- Finishing Flute Repairs

After soft soldering a post back together on my Music & Arts flute, I had some clean up to do.  After wiping to tin and using a very small amount of Light Green Compound on blue cloth, I used a silver polish to buff away the excess material.  While there were some surface scratch marks remaining, I was able to remove the majority of the cosmetic damage.  

 I then finished the repad on the body of the flute.  Once the pads were seating and I put the flute in the oven, I was able to cork the body and regulate it.  I was able to eliminate all lost motion. Finally, I polished the body and keys for a final product that I was very pleased with.

Week 7- Gemeinhardt Flutes

This week we started in on our complete flute repads.  I am completely fascinated by the flute.  There are quite a few intricate regulations to make the mechanics run smoothly on the instrument.  This allows a flute to be adjusted to have zero lost motion! The mechanics are so sound, and the addition of stop plates and regulation screws is so smart!  I'm really impressed with the mechanics overall.

After completing an initial inspection, I began removing keys from the flute.  Above, with the keys removed I was able to move on to taking apart the keys that are attached by knock pins.  This was a tricky procedure, and I would love to have more practice at it on other flutes.  Getting a needle-shaped, tapered object out of a conical hole is not easy!  I did manage to remove the six knock pins necessary for cleaning my keys.  Although my flute had been poorly taken care of, I saw improvement after cleaning the body and keys.

I am very interested in the foolproof method of padding for flutes.  With the pad and washer system, adding shims underneath the pad can create the exact coverage needed over the tone hole.  Ironing the pad removes any wrinkles on the pad skin, and a nearly perfect result can be produced on every pad.  I wish this existed on other woodwinds!

I started my key fitting and pad replacement on the foot joint.  Once I had a quality seal, I clamped the keys and baked them in our oven for 15 minutes.  The impression made on the pads was not severe, but was visibly indented.

When I moved on the the body, I was met with a most unwelcome surprise.  One of the posts on the double G Key was broken!  Lucas and I took immediate steps to fix the post, however the process of soldering and cleaning the work was time consuming.  If this was an instrument I was working on in a shop, it would have added a fair amount of time to the complete job.

I placed the flute on a wooden dowel so I could tighten it into a vice.  I angled the flute so that the broken post was within easy reach for holding a torch and soft solder up to it.

With Lucas' help, we applied flux to the intended area.  The next step was to heat the flute body up so that when the soft solder touched the post, it would melt into the opening.  This would ensure the most cosmetically friendly repair job.

The soldering procedure only took about one minute.  However, the process of cleaning the dirty metal was another story.

I first wiped off the body with alcohol.  Getting rid of a reasonable amount of the discoloration, I then switched to a green rouge compound to buff away some of the minor imperfections around the site.  I was able the remove most of the excess solder.  Using silver polish, I buffed the surrounding rib, tone holes, and posts to ensure the the repair job would be nearly invisible.

Next week's post will include the completed flute repad pictures as well as the final product of the post repair.

Week 6- Rosewood Clarinet Project

As an additional project while we begin flute repair, I am going to be working on a mystery rosewood clarinet.  The post work has Conn style pivot screws, however, there is no clear portrayal of a specific make of clarinet.  There is a serial number that has been nearly worn away, however, I am not sure how I would use a serial number to deduce a make of clarinet.

Upon first glance the piece is pretty exciting.  Unfortunately, after an initial assessment, it was obvious that there is a long road ahead for me and this clarinet.  While the choice of rosewood is a beautiful cut of wood, there is a severe double crack down the barrel and the bell.  The double crack that continued through the lower joint had an even worse result.

As you can see, the clarinet has run through the gauntlet of repair work already.  The top quarter of the lower joint was removed and replaced with a grenadilla wood clarinet joint.  While the original repair may have been sound, the new grenadilla wood piece also cracked down the entire piece.  The repair for these cracks was at best a job that was done on a limited budget and definitely without access to additional rosewood.  I can only assume that the key work from the original instrument was maintained in the piecing together of a new lower joint.

According to the engraving, 'Mpls. Bd. of Edu.', this was a school instrument at one time.  Probably poorly maintained, I would assume it was eventually donated for lack of funding to repair or maintain the work needed on the clarinet.

After assessing the tenons, I noticed some other repair work that I may need to remove before reevaluating. Shellac was used on the tenons.  Because of Minnesota's extremely varying climate of intense dry spells and very humid summers, I have elected to use contact cement as my base for the new tenons.  However, with the extensive cracking on the instrument, other repairs have included using what looks to be epoxy and a colored oil to get a brownish color that somewhat masks the repair work.  A considerable amount of shellac is found inside the lower joint tenon, which will no doubt lead to intonation issues.

A thorough cleaning of the tenon corks was necessary to ensure that as much shellac as possible was removed from the tenon grooves.  The end result shaped up nice.  In removing the key structure additional work was discovered.  Many of the hinge rods were damaged, two posts were stripped, two pad cups were damaged, and the A/D ring key had been noticeably swedged to the point of cosmetic failure.

Even after running the keys through a degreaser, acid bath, and silver soak, the tarnish and wear on the keys was very noticeable.  After polishing hinge rods, I began to assess lateral and end play in the mechanisms.  Unfortunately nearly all hinge tubes had severe lateral play.  Many also had severe end play.  While swedging could potentially be an option, the severity of these cases leads me to a second option: I will fabricate oversized hinge rods for all existing hinge rods.

It looks to be a daunting task, but with time and effort, the instrument can most definitely be improved to be used as a show piece for the BIR program.

Week 5- Final Touches on the Clarinet Repad

 After finishing the the corking and regulation on the lower joint, I had to replace the tenon corks.  I was hesitant to use my torch to quickly melt the paraffin wax over the cork to seal out any cork grease oils, but I was successful.

Once the upper joint tenons were corked, I was able to fit the two joints together to ensure that the 3 ring key regulation with the A/D ring key was sound.  I then had to make the final touches on the instrument.  I cleaned up the keys, replaced the thumb rest cork, and got ready for a play test.

My first full repad was a success.  The instrument plays freely and there are no mechanical issues or major intonation issues that would be due to the instrument itself.  I'm excited with the result, and I can't wait until we are able to fix even more instruments.  Next on the list: FLUTE!

Week 4- Key Adjustment, Padding, and Corking

Finishing out the repad week, I have been spending a lot of time eliminating lateral and end play.  I had a particular challenge with my clarinet's Throat A key.  The posts were not in alignment, and after a cost-benefit analysis, it was obvious that removing and resetting the post was not my best option.

As seen above, I then flared an opening on the hinge tube to allow for some lateral play when the hinge rod entered the non-aligned post.  While the fix didn't eliminate the problem, given the student model clarinet and the cost of resetting the post, I learned a very real-life approach to solving my problem.

After adjusting the key fitting I installed and set the pads on my clarinet.  Above are the upper joint keys before setting the pads on their tone holes.  Especially concerning the upper joint, I found that as you assemble the instrument, pad fitting becomes more difficult.  Fitting one pad at a time and then removing the key seemed a better option and less likely to burn a surrounding pad by accident.

While setting the pad for the C trill key, I had trouble getting a seal.  Upon closer inspection, I found that the tone hole was not level. Using my new tone hole leveler, I was able to sand a level surface and obtain a quality seal on the tone hole.  The same process was repeated when I found the Alternate F# tone hole was also uneven.

Week 4- Disassembly and Cleaning

We hit the chem room for a thorough cleaning of keys and clarinet bodies.  We began by letting the keys soak in a cleaning and degreasing bath for 15 minutes.  Our choice was ZEP Industrial Purple.  This basic bath rids the keys of oils and gets them prepped for the next bath.  After a cold water rinse, The keys went in the 'pickle.'  A phosphoric acid, Milkstone Remover & Acid Rinse, cleans the keys up in 1-3 minutes.  While you can use phosphoric acids with concentrations up to 75%, you will want to put water in to reduce the concentration.  After a warm water rinse and pressurized air dry, the keys were ready to go.

We then headed to the sink to clean the bodies of the clarinets using Dawn dish soap.  After a thorough scrub and a pressurized air dry, our cleaning process had come to an end. Next step, key adjustments!

Week 4- Clarinet Inspection

The class received clarinets from Music & Arts' rental fleet.  I was placed with a well used Jupiter Capitol Series student line clarinet shown below.

The inspection was a first look at the initial work needed on the instrument.  Because these clarinets would all be receiving repads anyway, the actual estimated cost did not match up with the final overhaul total.  The initial assessment consisted of checking mouthpiece, ligature, reeds, Key mechanisms, posts, rocket rings, pivot screws, pad cups, regulations, and key alignment.  I found a lot of end play in my key alignments as well as a general lack of maintenance and care of the instrument.

Week 3- Lathe Project #2

This week came with an additional challenge: Create your own tone hole leveler!

Starting of with two crudely cut brass cylinders, I used the lathe to face the end of each leveler.  This was the first time I had worked with a tool bit on the lathe, and was careful to use a dead center point to line up the tool bit exactly at the center of the cylinder.

I began with the large cylinder and finished up with the smaller leveler.  The process was lengthy, but only to ensure that the facing was of the highest quality, without flashing or a slight dome.  As a final touch, I sanded down one end on each leveler with 600 and then 1200 grit sandpaper.  This was to smooth out the grooves left by the mechanical finish of the lathe.  On the opposing ends I adhered sand paper, to be used in sanding down uneven tone holes.

Week 3- Key Adjustment and Alignment

Key Adjustment and Alignment

The week focuses on the lateral play and end play in key mechanisms.  We looked at hinge rod set ups as well as Pivot screw set ups.  Going in depth into the differences between point style pivot screws and pilot style pivot screws, I was able to deduce what necessary steps needed to be made in order to have a key fall by its own weight, and articulate cleanly.

Here I am using the swedging pliers on the E/B lever.  Focus was placed on making sure the hinge rod was all the way through the hinge tube.  While the swedging pliers are useful when there are parts between a spring hook and key arm that can be reached, I found the Collet tool to be a much more useful swedging method.

I found it much more effective to swedge in this fashion.  I was able to tighten the diameter of the hinge tube, which also lengthened the tube, eliminating the end play in my key.  As a final step, I used a hinge tube shortener to remove just a small amount of the tube for a perfect fit between the posts.

Week 2, Day Four

Padding

The introduction to padding came by explaining the makeup of clarinet pads.  The Cardboard backer and felt cushion is surrounded by a bladder skin or another synthetic skin material and placed into the pad cup.  I was sure to only melt a reasonable portion of glue onto the back of the pad before setting the pad and rotating it in the pad cup.  With our feeler gauges, we practiced feeling for leaks in a clockwise pattern.  Reseating the pads was finicky, but when I got the result I was looking for, it was an accomplished feeling.

Week 2, Day Three

The Lathe!
The initial lathe project was doming the plastic heads of two Delrin hammers.  The goal was to create a slight dome on the flat end of the hammer, because the tools will be used for dent removal on rounded objects (brass bells).  A rounded hammer will follow the arc of a brass bell as opposed to a flat surface.

The initial set up of the lathe is very precise.  The lathe speed for plastic is 400/diameter of the object.  This means the smaller the diameter, the faster the speed.  My first hammer was my trial object on the lathe.  After following the set up procedure, I used a large file to create a slight dome on the end of the hammer.  For a medium cut, I then used 400 grit sandpaper to smooth the hammer heads.  Finally, using Tripoli, I buffed the surface to a smooth, polished finish.

Week 2, Day Two

This weeks task is becoming a pro at checking pads for total coverage and perfect sealing.  In order to do this, I created a pad seal checker.  Using a .02 x .3 mm strip of Mylar, I glued on the plastic strip to a small wooden dowel.  This was my first time using an acetylene torch to melt glue and affix an object.  The end result consisted of a new skill learned as well as two usable and delicate feeler gauges.

Before using my duck bill pliers and pad slick tool, I had to clean up the tools.  Over a period of two hours, I used 325, 400, and 600 grit sandpaper to remove many of the machining marks on my tools.  Following the sanding, I took the pliers and the pad slick tool to the buffing machine.  Using yellow compound, I applied the buffing compound to the tools to create the smoothest finish for my tools.  I ended up repeating the sanding and buffing process as I found additional inconsistencies in the metal after my first buffing session.  I have now successfully used the buffing machine and feel confident in maintaining a separation of various compounds so as now to hinder the result of buffing different metals.

Week 2, Day One

Disassembly and reassembly of the clarinet is becoming easier each time I run through the process.  I can take the instrument apart and put it back together in about 16 minutes.  Hopefully this time will continue to drop as I become more accustomed to dealing with pivot screws!

This week began with determining with levers and key contribute to the venting and closing of a key.  We determined the two regulations on the clarinet, and I was able to site the two necessary lost motion points on the clarinet as well as the additional wanted lost motion in two points.

Finally, using a craytex wheel on the bench motor, I eliminated the flash on my pad slicks to ensure I wouldn't tear or rip a pad when using the slick.

Week 1, Day Four

Corking was the first step into direct work on clarinets.  After being given a few strips of 1/16" cork, I applied contact cement to both the back of the touch piece and the back of the cork.  After letting the cement dry for 15 minutes, I adhered the two pieces together.  Using a fresh razor blade and quick precise cuts at an acute angle, I was able to create an aesthetically pleasing and well functioning foot cork on three keys.

After experimenting with cutting methods, I found that using both right handed and left handed cuts gave me the most accurate angles and cleanest cuts of cork.

Week 1, Day Three

Day three began with covering shop mats in muslin and filling our bottles with oils, denatured alcohol, and contact cement.

Our first instrument to tackle in the program is the clarinet.  For starters, we have created a clarinet screw board to aid in the disassembly of the instruments.  Seen above is the drying of the glue coating on my screw board.  For the screw board, I sanded down a piece of pine lumber and used Elmer;s glue as a coating agent for the description.  Using the bench motor and a #46 and #54 drill bit, I drilled consecutive holes as a holding point for screws and hinge rods.

Week 1, Day Two

After our safety quiz on the Hazardous Materials Identification System, we got right to work on our first tools.  We created a poker tool in two different sizes as a general use item.  Using the bench motor, I filed down the dowel to get rid of any burrs or flashing.  The goal was to achieve a nearly flat surface, with just a slight bevel.  After shaping the dowel, I inserted I large spring needle (.057" x 63mm) into the center of the cylinder.  To ensure that the spring needle would penetrate the wood, I used a silicon carbide grinding wheel to grind a point on the blunt end of the spring.

   I repeated the process with a smaller dowel and spring, creating a more agile tool that can be used in many scenarios.  The springs on both dowels were inserted in the wood exactly one half of the spring length.  After completing the project, I had acquired knowledge of operating a bench motor safely and accurately.