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Just curious, What does everyone use on their first valve slides to make them "slicker than snot"?

Part Deux:

Of course I am talking to tubists who manipulate the first valve slide to tune those pesky first valve notes

First, of course, make sure with your tech your valve slides, both inner and outer tubes, are perfectly parallel, or nothing will work. After that, polish both the inner and outer sleeves so nothing hangs. Then even plain old Vaseline or generic equivalent (petroleum jelly or petrolatum) will work fine: cheap, easy to clean up, NON-TOXIC, and what I've used forever. Occasionally, when one of my horns is in the shop, the tech will use some sort of the latest whatever, and I always have to end up thoroughly cleaning out the pipes myself and re-applying the vaseline. I suppose if you wanted it a bit thinner a drop or so of mineral oil would do it: ALSO cheap, easy to clean up, NON-TOXIC, and if you have constipation you can take a spoonful with some hot peppers and clear yourself right up!

The thinnest Hetman's slide oil. #4. Doesn't leave any kind of gunk residue.

Superslick & water, just like a trombone slide.

I, too, just use vasoline. Yeah, ya gotta wipe the excess off, and re-apply every so once in a while. Plentiful, easy to find, and beats the alternatives...

I use the Hetman #7, same as I use on all the other tuning slides, and cut it with the Hetman Piston oil to get it to the viscosity I want it.

I've just started using the Hetman #4 slide oil, but as the follow up trick add a drop of Hetman's light piston oil and now the slide just plain falls out whenever I turn the horn upside down, somewhat similar to the oil/water combo mentioned earlier. It's only a matter of time before I give the snot suggestions above a try as well

I also had the slide and receiver primed up quite nicely by Dennis Houghton over in Keller, TX and he did the coolest trick: he took a lit candle and got soot on the slide, then placed it in to the receiver and pulled it out. All of the high spots were then highlighted (shiny), so he only polished those areas rather then the whole slide, so now the thing fits excruciatingly tight air pressure wise, but moves like slick glass the moment you hit it with a lubricant.

Anhydrous lanolin and mineral oil--mineral oil added to get the consistency that works for you. Very smooth and utterly nontoxic.

Works as a leather dressing and gun case lube too. If you have any rugrats around the house, this also works as a diaper cream (good moisture barrier).

I've also heard that using pure lanolin oil works well too, but I haven't tried it.

My first valve on my euph hasnt been re greased in YEARS ( i dont know if this is a bad thing) But it moves the most fluently ....its nice though I dont alter the tuning with it when i play.

Chuck(G) wrote:Anhydrous lanolin and mineral oil--mineral oil added to get the consistency that works for you. Very smooth and utterly nontoxic.

I've also heard that using pure lanolin oil works well too, but I haven't tried it.

I thought Anhydrous lanolin was pure lanolin. A friend of mine used to buy it a a drug store where the druggist would always say loudly, "Oh, you want wool fat!" Apparently the druggist thought that it was funny to say "wool fat."

Vasoline melts in Texas temperatures and gets into the valves. Bad news. It tends to Freeze in cold weather because it's water soluable. Wool fat.

Personally, I like to use a thin but water resistant grease for the slides. I can find it anyplace marine lubricants are sold, like outboard motor suppliers. My favorite used to be PHD (pronounced fudd) but I haven't been able to find it in a lustrum.

Dog snot works well but I can't find a steady source. Wool fat.

Pond's cold cream. The good stuff is what they sell overseas and across the border in Mexico. What they sell here is too "perfumey."

In Southeast Asia they make a bread spread called "Blue Band" margarine and the stuff smells like Vincent Bach slide grease.



At least this stuff can be swallowed and it has the Seal of Approval from the Singapore Heart Association!

Alex C wrote:I thought Anhydrous lanolin was pure lanolin. A friend of mine used to buy it a a drug store where the druggist would always say loudly, "Oh, you want wool fat!" Apparently the druggist thought that it was funny to say "wool fat."

Lanolin's quite close chemically to a wax. "Anhydrous" simply means that there's no water mixed in.

Mostly, it's cholesterol mixed wtih several fatty acids, very akin to the sebum that humans secrete as "skin oil". And like most organic fats, it has several fractions. Lanolin oil is the lightest of these and is a viscous liquid at room temperature, not a solid.

Some marine types coat propellers with lanolin. Evidently, it's a great rust preventative and barnacles won't stick to it. It's also part of many lubricants for stainless steel.

The mineral oil-lanolin mixture is sometimes known as "guppy lube".

I just spent 3 hours cleaning my big Nirschl. After a good bath, I polished the slides with a spray on silver polish, rodded the female slide tubes with cheeze cloth and Alcass and lubricated the males with Hetmans Slide Oil, not sure of number. I used to just use key oil and it seemed to work fine but this seems to do a better job.

Thanks to Roger Lewis who inspired/convinced me to clean my horn! Only two more to go.

Pete

Pete Link wrote:I just spent 3 hours cleaning my big Nirschl. After a good bath, I polished the slides with a spray on silver polish, rodded the female slide tubes with cheeze cloth and Alcass and lubricated the males with Hetmans Slide Oil, not sure of number. I used to just use key oil and it seemed to work fine but this seems to do a better job.

Thanks to Roger Lewis who inspired/convinced me to clean my horn! Only two more to go.

Pete

Did you actually use the polish on the "male" part of the slide? (the part you lubricate)...(it took ema while to figure that out)...


O ya and that your baff tub Squatch your horn?!?!?!?!?

I used motor oil for several years; it's less sensitive to temperature changes than most other lubricants. Recently I bought some "break-free" gun oil, which seems to work very well too.

TubaTuck wrote:

windshieldbug wrote:I, too, just use vasoline. Yeah, ya gotta wipe the excess off, and re-apply every so once in a while. Plentiful, easy to find, and beats the alternatives...

Are you cats using vaseline using it on ALL you slides?

Please explain.

Thanks,

Tuck

Yes.

If I played a rotary tuba, I would consider something else besides vaseline, due to the gunk/casing issue. But with the vertical valves on my Besson, gravity keeps everything at bay.

Inexpensive slide grease (Vaseline) + inexpensive but good valve oil (Roche Thomas $6.95/16 oz) = play a long, long, long time without having to repurchase either, and both are pure enough that gunk does not build up to any appreciable amount for me with routine cleaning.

Hettmanns....light slide oil for 1st and 3rd slides....I'm a believer.