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Well, I suppose I should have asked Lee Stofer when I spoke with him earlier this week, but we got to talking about naval brass bells, home-made helicons and lighter mouthpieces among other things...

I know what the bright dip is, how and why to do it, but I'm wondering about polishing a horn afterwards. Does anyone have experience with this? I've got an Olds/Conn frankentuba that went through Lee's shop last summer that I'll be putting up for sale here soon, and was just wondering if I should try to shine it up a little first. It's nice and bright (and yellow) still, but not so shiny anymore.

Any special method I should know about? I'd hate to leave it cloudy looking, I know shiny tubas sell better.


Thanks in advance!

(edited to add pic)

Mike Finn wrote:Any special method I should know about? I'd hate to leave it cloudy looking, I know shiny tubas sell better.

Wenol is a good polish that doesn't require power buffing and will shine it up very nicely. Like all polishes, it is abrasive, but it will take less material off than power buffing. I used it on my Miraphone and it restored a high-quality shine with about an hour's worth of elbow grease application. It will be even easier on this instrument because the Wenol doesn't have to first dissolve the oxidation.

Rick "a large tube of Wenol and a roll of paper towel will do the trick" Denney

where does one go to buy wenol?

Jeffrey Hicks wrote:where does one go to buy wenol?

I found a dozen sites that sold it in a few seconds with a Google search. It's generally available from automotive and motorcycle detailing shops and commercial cleaning supply houses. You might also find it in antique stores that supply a range of restoration products.

Rick "who needs to restock" Denney