Removing Stuck sousaphone bits

[sloan]

If you 're using one of the more recent editions of WinBits, you can use System Restore to go back to a time prior to the time that the bits were stuck.

I have the old version - all I get is a fruit basket.

[sloan]

Rick "thinking every tuba player should own and know how to use a small rawhide hammer" Denney

I'm thinking that some people could do the job safely with a 20lb sledge...and others could cause irreparable damage with a small rawhide mallet.

[Rick Denney]

I'm thinking that some people could do the job safely with a 20lb sledge...and others could cause irreparable damage with a small rawhide mallet.

All tools are dangerous. But the small rawhide mallet is probably the least dangerous of any general-purpose tool. I would much rather see one of those in the hands of a novice than a pair of pliers or a screwdriver, both of which can do far worse damage and are more likely to be near to hand.

I would think anyone with enough finger dexterity to play the instrument could learn to safely use a small rawhide mallet for its preferred repairs (mostly unsticking friction-fit parts) with about ten minutes of training, and even the remotest common sense.

Rick "thinking it would take a pretty mighty whack with an appropriately small and light rawhide mallet to, say, bend a valve casing" Denney

[MartyNeilan]

All tools are dangerous.

[Rick Denney]

Well just as an update, we got the bits unstuck, we tried to tapping with a rubber hammer and mallets, nothing seemed to work. The director ended up calling Mastellar Music (its where he bought the sousaphones from) who told him to dip one end into ice cold water while holding the other end firmly in a warm hand. Low and behold it worked. Now all of the sousaphones finally can be put together properly and played correctly.

Glad the problem is solved for you.

For those who find this in a search later on: A rubber mallet won't work. It just won't impart the energy needed to momentarily distort the receiver enough to force the tapered bit out of it.

A rawhide mallet is quite hard, but it is relatively light. So, it will impose lots of G's, but without much mass that can cause damage. The rubber mallet won't impart those G's, and a steel hammer's mass tends not to stop with the task at hand.

If "tapping" didn't work with a hard mallet, then maybe it needed to graduate to "a good smack".

Rick "for posterity" Denney

[TubaCoopa]

Heh. Reminds me of when I tried to get some bits unstuck with a mallet, and my Band Director walked in as I raised the mallet in the air. Perfect timing.

[rocksanddirt]

I have a wide selection of hammers and mallets in the garage. from some small rubber mallets to rock picks.

I've only used hand pressure or a hand tap through a dowell or small piece of wood on mouthpieces. (been lucky and not had many stuck ones).