How did the brass repairman do it?

BopEuph · Post by **BopEuph** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:40 am

I took my Willson into the shop yesterday, because one of my slides was really loose and kept falling out. He fixed it in about ten minutes and charged me only $20. When I took a look at it, I didn't see anything different about the slide at all--only that it now fit right. I asked him what he did to fix it, and he just smiled and said "magic." Then he told a cute little story about how the horn sat in the freezer for a few minutes and shrank so the slide fit better. They were funny stories, but I'm still left curious.

How did he do it?

Nick

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 1:00 pm

It's true.... it IS magic!

eupher61 · Post by **eupher61** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 3:21 pm

He either expanded the diameter of the inner slide tubing or slightly separated the inner tubing--pushed the legs apart.

MartyNeilan · Post by **MartyNeilan** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 5:05 pm

Nah, when you weren't looking he just took a mallet and dinged one of the outer tubes.

BopEuph · Post by **BopEuph** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 6:16 pm

Heh. Well, one of the outer slides was bigger than the inner slide; big enough to cause some play in the slide and cause it to occasionally fall out. The funny thing is the falling out part only started happening in the last couple of weeks, and I've had the horn for five years.

Nick

BopEuph · Post by **BopEuph** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 8:07 pm

Greg wrote:hmm, that might make a good avatar.

Or make me hungry.

Nick

MartyNeilan · Post by **MartyNeilan** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 10:00 pm

BobEuph wrote:How did the brass repairman do it?

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:07 pm

Global Warming.

Roger Lewis · Post by **Roger Lewis** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 12:19 pm

he took a hammer and hit the end of one of the slide tubes to turn it egg shaped. When you put it back in the horn it turns round again, but now there is tension from the inner slide tube against the outer tube, better holding it in place.

Roger

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 12:42 pm

davemcrobs wrote:
the elephant wrote:Tube Expander

eupher61 wrote:expanded the diameter of the inner slide tubing ...

... OR, they just put the outer slides and the body of the horn in the freezer and shrank it YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN SOMETHING WAS UP WHEN THEY TOLD YOU TO KEEP THE SLIDE IN YOUR POCKET, AND NOT TO PLAY BELOW THE ARCTIC CIRCLE...

BopEuph · Post by **BopEuph** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 1:32 pm

Thanks. That's what I was wondering. There is definitely less play in the slide, meaning it was done correctly I believe.

What does a tube expander look like?

I have always been interested in how my stuff is fixed, whether it's my amp, horns, bass, car, whatever.

Nick

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 3:04 pm

Scooby Tuba wrote:
davemcrobs wrote:But I was going to say that the repairman should tell you what he did.
The more "insecure-in-their-skills" techs give replies like "magic"....

Unless you intend to spend many hundred bucks buying a full size range of expensive tools like tube expanders... and spend the time to truly learn how to use them without making a mess of things... you're just going to have to be satisfied with an answer like 'magic'.

Daniel C. Oberloh · Post by **Daniel C. Oberloh** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 4:25 pm

Hi All,

Guess I will throw in 2Â¢ as well.

Even though I have a fairly large number of the expandable rods, I don't use them for refitting slide tubes. Sure, there great to a point at re-rounding slide-tubes but the wall thickness on many such telescopic tubes is to great for me to gain good controllable results with out making a lumpy stretched to hell mess of the tube being worked. Believe it or not, I use a straight steel mandrel and a heavy flat-faced dent hammer to expand the tube evenly and neatly down it entire length yielding final results where one is hard pressed to see where the metal was worked. It takes a little practice to get a feel for it but it delivers excellent and proper results.

Daniel C. Oberloh
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works
www.oberloh.com

GC · Post by GC » Sun Oct 07, 2007 11:59 pm

How did the brass repairman do it?

On the bench. And he has a special tool.

Daniel C. Oberloh · Post by **Daniel C. Oberloh** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:19 am

Scooby Tuba wrote:Explanations of what's been done to an expensive piece of equipment should never be "magic." Gee, my car runs now, must be magic...

I don't know. This seems to work well for me when I am pressed for time and am not in the mood to explain the process.

Scooby Tuba wrote:"Having at" the Ferree's catalog doesn't make anyone a repair technician. Explaining what's been done to an instrument doesn't enable the owner to do the same job.

In addition to this, I find it equally amusing how some folks think a nine month repair course or an even shorter college class will teach them everything they need to know to be a journeyman repair tech.

The non-secret-secret is what they feared, ITS ALL SKILL AND HARD WORK EFFORT obtained through years of study and practice!

Sorry ya all, no magic (sigh).

Daniel C. Oberloh
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:24 am

DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!

Eye of newt and 20 penny nails are all you need!

Daniel C. Oberloh · Post by **Daniel C. Oberloh** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:35 am

windshieldbug wrote:DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!

Eye of newt and 20 penny nails are all you need!

Damn it! Hush up! Next thing your going to tell them where we get our Pixi-dustÂ® on line.

Daniel C. Oberloh

Daniel C. Oberloh · Post by **Daniel C. Oberloh** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:52 am

davemcrobs wrote:Vodka Grasshopper recipe
3/4 oz green creme de menthe
3/4 oz white creme de cacao
3/4 oz vodka

Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and serve.

And that is how they did it!

Daniel C. Oberloh

Daniel C. Oberloh · Post by **Daniel C. Oberloh** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:18 am

davemcrobs wrote:Horn dorn

[/b]

Daniel C. Oberloh

Daniel C. Oberloh · Post by **Daniel C. Oberloh** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:30 am

davemcrobs wrote:Do I?

Only if you post more of your own. Would love to see more of what you do in your shop.

Daniel C. Oberloh
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works
www.oberloh.com

TubeNet

How did the brass repairman do it?

How did the brass repairman do it?

Possibly.....