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I just bead blasted my old king and want to leave it with that finish, what clear coat would you recommend to preserve it? Is there anything special just for brass? Because I've got some generic metal clear coat in a rattle can. Thanks!

Here it is after the bead blasting:


Here it is before (this is also my avatar picture):

If you have easy access to the bead blaster why not try a test coat on the bottom bow and if it does not work bead blast it away again.

This is an air-dry coating that most repairmen prefer for small jobs and touch-up work. I've never tried to refinish a whole tuba with 'rattle-cans' but I suppose it's possible. http://www.finish1.com/page_products.htm

Also... any automotive clear-coat should work just fine. If you have an autobody guy close you might ask him. The trick with applying lacquer is more about getting the horn clean before hand... more than anything.

Are you going to take the dents out first?

No, I'm leaving the dents just because removing them would cost me at least twice what I paid for the horn. The purpose of the bead blast was a) an experiment and b) to try and get a uniform finish on it since the old lacquer was worn, scratched, raw, etc.

The valve set looks really nice, the outside branches are where all the dents and dings are.

I'd make a mailbox out of it...

Just curious...how would it age out if left as is? Maybe develop a nice patina (as long as it isn't green ) Keep us posted... Loren

tclements wrote:I'd make a mailbox out of it...

Haha! Maybe I will after I purchase another tuba, but for now, this plays great and it's my only one...

bloke wrote:' nice job.

Was that your first outing?

A lot of folks use too much pressure (actually making new dents) when doing their first one.

It looks like you have the touch.

It was my first outing on a tuba. I have used the bead blaster before though. My dad volunteers doing aircraft restoration at the Strategic Air and Space Museum (formerly the SAC, Strategic Air Command Museum) and I've gone with him numerous times throughout the years, so I've been able to bead blast airplane parts in preparation for restoration work. It's a lot of fun working there, so I asked the boss down there if it would be alright to bead-blast my tuba and he gave me the ok. The psi is at 75 on their machine.

Cool! Flip the first slide before you do any more finish work.

goodgigs wrote:

bloke wrote:...It looked like you had some experience...

Tuba jug, I too have had my hands inside those big sweaty gloves for long hours and I couldn't agree with Joe more !
Great job !
As to de denting this horn, I would suggest that if you can find someone with LONG EXPERENCE with a dent eraser,
all the dents I can see in the photos seem to be away from the braces and guards and so could be removed with ease.
What I'm saying is that in under an hour, a guy who wanted to, could do this job, hopefully for less then the cost of the tuba. (-$120.00)
As to coating, if you have a spray gun or an airless spray gun, you might try Benjamin Moore’s "stays clear" polyurethane. It's floor rated,
water based and alcohol resistant.

Thank you very much for all the compliments and ideas everyone. Just for my own information, is a dent eraser different than the magnet/ball technique? Because the tech I brought it to for an estimate said that the dents on that smaller branch were too far in to use the magnet and ball effectively and would thus require unsoldering and the whole bit. There is a dent in the bottom bow which would require taking off the guards, but I'm not so worried about that one as it isn't visible when playing the tuba.

Thanks again for the compliments! It really turned out quite well, I was very pleasantly surprised!

If I had the cash, I might be interested in "restoring" this (aka, at least remove the dents), but as I said, this horn was cheap (less than $500) so I'm using it as my guinea pig while I save up for a "better" horn in the future. It plays great, and I'm replacing the recording bell with an upright (which I also plan to bead blast) so I can at least take it to my brass quintet w/o blasting the other guys in the face with a recording bell.

I really like the bead blasted finish, so this was, as I said, my guinea pig. Thanks again for all the compliments and ideas.

Am I correct in assuming that if I don't coat it with something it will begin to oxidize/green/wear sooner now that the lacquer is gone?

Tubajug wrote:.... Just for my own information, is a dent eraser different than the magnet/ball technique? Because the tech I brought it to for an estimate said that the dents on that smaller branch were too far in to use the magnet and ball effectively and would thus require unsoldering and the whole bit. .....

The 'Dent Eraser' is just a trade name for magnets and balls.

The smaller the ball... the less force than can be harnessed to remove a dent. Large bows are generally thinner on the outer areas where dents occur. Therefore... dents can usually be removed from large bows more easily using magnets and balls. However... it's usually necessary to remove bow guards first. Magnets and balls are pretty useless on tubing less than 3/4" in diameter. Sometimes dents can be taken out of the outside of smaller crooks simply because the material is stretched and much thinner.

Since they're only on that second loop of the bugle, the tubing is nowhere near the 3/4" diameter you mentioned Dan. Perhaps that old, thick King brass would just be too much for a dent ball there? I don't know, I guess if the repair guy didn't want to do it, I shouldn't have him do it anyway.

Tubajug wrote:Since they're only on that second loop of the bugle, the tubing is nowhere near the 3/4" diameter you mentioned Dan. Perhaps that old, thick King brass would just be too much for a dent ball there? I don't know, I guess if the repair guy didn't want to do it, I shouldn't have him do it anyway.

The force available depends on the mass of the ball and the power of the magnets. I get descent results on SINGLE THICKNESSES of brass down to about 3/4" but since mass counts.... I often use dent barrels instead of round balls. Annealing the area of the tube helps, too.

Maybe your tech just isn't familiar with all the 'tricks'. Maybe I shouldn't be!

Before you clear coat be sure to do a good cleaning of the horn. Before I've painted metals I've used the purest labratory alcohol I can find to do a final wipe of the part to remove dust or oils that might be left from handling the part. This is very important to help the clear coat adhear to the brass and to make sure no finger prints appear years from now.

http://www.votawtool.com/zcom.asp?pg=pr ... =jndmimhqg

Nikolas 2105-C

Make sure that the horn is CLEAN first. It needs to be free of grease, oil and other impurities or you might have trouble down the road with the lacquer.

That bead blast job looks great. Nice work!

I've been looking into this stuff.... http://www.everbritecoatings.com/cart/i ... ex&cPath=7

Anyone familiar with it?