Help needed from all you tuba chemists!

davet · Post by **davet** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 6:05 pm

OK, I polished up my silver Yamaha, went to the fabric store and bought enough silvercloth for my wife to sew up a tuba bag. Now I can delay the next polishing session for as long as possible.

Now I'm shining up the raw brass helicon. Is there a similar bag I can make to delay the brass tarnishing process? Are silver and brass tarnishes formed by reactions to the same chemicals?

How can I delay the brass tarnishing?

I searched the archives and can't find answers to these specific questions.....

I know I could just let them go- it likely wouldn't affect the sound, but they're so shiny!

Dave

Lee Stofer · Post by **Lee Stofer** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 6:25 pm

TarniShield makes a brass counterpart to its silver polish. TarniShield for brass is reported to have tarnish inhibitors also, so that might do you some good. I like to have a good lacquer finish on any horn that I play, due in large part to having extremely sensitive skin. I doubt that you want to spend what it would take to make that a reality, so the less expensive options are to have the instrument bright-dipped, which if done properly will stop corrosion for quite a while. The instrument will be a bright color, but have a somewhat hazy appearance. If the TarniShield brass polish works for you all the better, for it would be the least expensive option.

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:18 pm

You might also try a can of this stuff; I've had pretty good results with it:

Museums use it to coat anything that will damaged by handling. You can buy it at most woodworking supply stores (your best price--art supply stores mark it up something awful).

It's just a wax, not a polish, so you'll have to polish the horn beforehand.

LOTP · Post by **LOTP** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 8:01 am

Horn (F) players report success in using in using "Armor-All" on polished horns.

LOTP · Post by **LOTP** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 6:45 pm

[quote="cc_tuba_guy"]A repairman in SA told me that he uses a mix of 50% Armor-All and 50% water. LIGHTLY mist the area to be polished and use a clean rag to wipe clean. It cleans repair junk off and fingerprints and it protects the horn for a short while. I prefer this because I think that it looks better than just using a lacquer cloth.[/quote]

SA?
South Africa?
Saudi Arabia?

jtuba · Post by **jtuba** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 7:12 pm

San Antonio, was it by chance the Rodriguez family? I've had work done by both father and son and they are great guys to deal with.

davet · Post by **davet** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 8:18 am

Thanks for the ideas. Armor All seems to be the cheapest idea so I'll try that first. I've done some more research and I believe that it is not possible to make a "bag " that will keep brass from tarnishing.

Silver tarnish is a chem. reaction between the silver and sulphur, so by surrounding the instrument with silvercloth, the sacrificial silver in that cloth reacts with the sulphur compounds in the air, "removing" the sulphur before the air comes in contact with the horn.

Brass tarnish, OTOH, is an oxidation process, so to prevent that chem. reaction one has to keep oxygen away from the brass- a bit more difficult to do with a "bag."