Sandblast etching

[TheodoreSmith]

I know some people make cool patterns on metal mugs, by using a vinyl stencil and a sand blaster. I was wondering if anybody has done this or thought about doing this to a tuba or brass instruments?
Thanks!

[tbonesullivan]

I'm sure it has been done. The choice of media is very important. I think glass beads are usually what is used.

[bort]

I might be wrong... but isn't that just how they make a satin silver finish? Sandblast the parts that aren't masked off?

[Rick Denney]

I might be wrong... but isn't that just how they make a satin silver finish? Sandblast the parts that aren't masked off?

Yes--after silver plating in the deeps of time, and before silver plating in recent times.

The challenge is making repairs that hide the wound.

Rick "who can do lots of damage with a media blaster" Denney

[thejester10276]

If you took a raw brass bell and created etchings on it, could lacquer or silver be applied verbatim to a normal application or are there special alterations that would need to accompany it?

[Rick Denney]

If you took a raw brass bell and created etchings on it, could lacquer or silver be applied verbatim to a normal application or are there special alterations that would need to accompany it?

No, silver can be plated on media-blasted brass with no issue.

King put lacquer on media-blasted brass when they first came out with the new-style 2341, but it seems to me that would be even harder than satin silver to repair without an ugly scar. You can't remove the lacquer using polishing methods without ruining the satin texture, and that leaves chemical-only methods, which have their own issues when it comes time to reapply lacquer on a repair. And then there's the issue of the dent machine rubbing out the satin texture, and then having to spot-blast the repair in the hopes of matching the texture.

Rick "matching lacquer color is hard enough" Denney