Cloth stuck in tuning slide

[CKH]

I was cleaning out my horn today and got some cloth stuck in my third valve slide. It was tied to a snake, but it's stuck in there now. Any ideas on how to get it out?

Christian

[TexTuba]

Flush it?

[CKH]

I don't think there's enough pressure behind it to push it out.

[Uncle Buck]

Post a photo.

[JB]

I was cleaning out my horn today and got some cloth stuck in my third valve slide. It was tied to a snake, but it's stuck in there now. Any ideas on how to get it out?

This once happened to me.

My solution was to cut the longest straight section from a metal clothes hanger. I created a 90 degree bend at one end with some pliers and a vice – the “bent sections” was only a few millimetres total. This allowed me to reach down inside the slide (without scratching the interior sides of the slide) and catch a pit of the cloth. With a few tries, I had it moved enough to become “unstuck” and was able to hook it enough to pull out.

Good luck.

[sinfonian]

Could you burn it out?

[CKH]

Could you burn it out?

Would that damage anything?

[imperialbari]

JB suggests along my own low tech general approach. I hadn’t thought of that idea, but may develop on it by suggesting using the hook of a wooden clothes hanger by screwing its thread into the fabric. Maybe the hook shall be straightened somewhat to be long enough. Make sure the threading is not turned along the inner surface of the brass tubing, only fully inside the fabric.

Pushing the cloth by means of water or of pressurized air will fail, as it will compress the fabric and make it expand radially. It even is best taken out from the end where it entered, as the original pull direction was what made it stick.

Potential alternative tools would be a long crotchet hook or a long cork screw. In all situations make sure not applying force that will make the tubing expand radially.

Klaus

[CKH]

Thanks for all the replies. I'll post what works when I get it out. On another note, what exactly is bad about scratching the interior of the slides?

[Wyvern]

What about use the suction of a vacuum cleaner? Use tape to connect the hose to the slide tube, sealing around the gap with tape. Then just switch on and hopefully it will pull the cloth out by vacuum!

You just need to then clean up any sticky deposit on the slide and you are done

[CKH]

What about use the suction of a vacuum cleaner? Use tape to connect the hose to the slide tube, sealing around the gap with tape. Then just switch on and hopefully it will pull the cloth out by vacuum!

You just need to then clean up any sticky deposit on the slide and you are done

I thought about that, but wouldn't that contradict what Klaus said above?

[imperialbari]

If you suck from the end where the cloth entered, there is a good chance you will get the turbulent air to pull a flap out of the compressed fabric. Pulling more gently than roughly may get the cloth unstuck.

The problem with scratching the inside of the tubing is that the wall may pressed ever so slightly outwards. If that happens the slide will stick when placed back in the slide receivers.

I have seen the bad results of a stuck cloth inside the stocking area of the inner slide of a Holton bass trombone. The slide went useless due to the expansion.

Klaus

[Tundratubast]

Get a sheet metal screw and cut the head off it. Find a stick, brass rod & drill a hole in it the same size as the screw bitter end. Solder it it, and you've created a long cork screw device. Twist it into the cloth and gentle pull the cloth out the same direction it went in. It works on oboes and other woodwinds with stuck cloths. Do not wet the the cloth. The moisture will expand the cloth making it tighter. Have a good time.

[dxnmrl]

holy complicated. am i wrong in thinking "get something pinchy or grabby and pull it out, gently" is sounding good right about now?

[sloan]

holy complicated. am i wrong in thinking "get something pinchy or grabby and pull it out, gently" is sounding good right about now?

Simplifying the best advice so far:

a) take a long piece of stiff wire (sacrifice a wire coat hanger, if necessary)
b) create a small hook on the end (grip with pliers - I like needle-nosed - bend)
c) snag cloth and pull (back the way it came)

For extra credit, fashion a right-angle at just the correct length from the hook, so that you can TWIST the cloth
as you pull it out. This might help the cloth remain attached to the probe, and might compress it axially, the better to slither out. If it jams when you twist it CW....switch to CCW.

MAYBE dump some valve oil down the tube - you might as well clean the slide while you are at it.

[Dan Schultz]

Corkscrew. If necessary... solder it into the end of a piece of small tubing.

[sloan]

Send it to TubaTinker. Include $1 for the repair and 50¢ for guaranteed/insured overnight return shipping.

Don't you mean 1¢ for the repair and $50 for the shipping?

[Rick Denney]

What about use the suction of a vacuum cleaner? Use tape to connect the hose to the slide tube, sealing around the gap with tape. Then just switch on and hopefully it will pull the cloth out by vacuum!

You just need to then clean up any sticky deposit on the slide and you are done

I thought about that, but wouldn't that contradict what Klaus said above?

Yes, it would. Vacuum from one end has the same effect on a complete blockage as pressure from the other.

A hook in the end of the coat-hanger wire, which you can partly screw into the cloth to grab a bit of it, usually works. The twisting action is important. Don't ask me how I know.

Rick "looking at the ceiling" Denney