How to "slicken" your first valve slide?

[Tubajug]

Anyone care to share what they've done to get that "trombone slide" quality with their first (or any, really) valve slide?

Buffing machine?

Slide grease/oil concoctions?

Thanks!

[Big Francis]

I've had success with 3-in-1 Household oil that I sometimes thin out with valve oil and get about a week. Thinned out Vaseline works well too, but didn't last as long. I find that the more I thin it out, the less it lasts.

Frank

[tbn.al]

Step 1. Take it to a reputable repair shop and make absolutely sure it is without dents and the tubes are perfectly in line.

Step 2. Make sure you did Step 1.

[pjv]

It seems like a quick fix; thinning out the slide grease on your 1st valve slide (or any slide you want to move quickly) with valve oil. But if the moving/tunable part of the slide is above your valve (like on many tubas) you'll be running thinned out slide grease into your valve(s), which is not really want you'd want, I think.

In fact, any grease that's thicker than valve oil but thinner than your average slide grease is gonna get into your valve casing and slow down your valves. If your valve slide has a bend in the knuckle just after it leaves (and just before it enters) the valve, thinned out grease just might get caught up here.

-Pat

[opus37]

I've had the best luck by first making sure the slide is a perfect fit and clean on both inside the tube and outside of the slide. Then using Vaseline. Don't use a lot. It's thick enough to make things work well but not so thin that it runs all over. The key is to use the exact right amount. You have to play with it a bit.

[Dan Schultz]

First... clean all of the inner and outer slide tubes. Make sure they are free of heavy grease and grit. Then... make sure the inner tubes and the corresponding outer tubes move freely first by inserting one at a time. if they are free individually but get 'sticky' when trying to insert both at the same time.... you've got an alignment problem. At that point... take it to a brass repairman who is well-versed in this type of thing.

If the slide moves freely but you only want to make it a little 'slicker'... and different oils don't get the results you want.... still take it to a repairman rather that to mess it up yourself.

[glangfur]

Yes, lined up, straight, and properly lapped is how you start. You need a good tech to do those steps.

I use Hetman Slide Gel on all the slides on my tuba, and then cut the 1st slide with Hetman Piston Valve Oil. The slide moves freely, and as long as I'm keeping the 1st valve well-oiled, it doesn't slow down that valve at all. The Hetman products are designed to work this way.

[cjk]

The only used tuba I've received which had its first slide "in perfect alignment" actually just had the crap buffed out of it. I later had the tubes replaced.

Who needs any stinkin' alignment when you've got sandpaper?

[Lee Stofer]

As other have said, the alignment and condityion of the tubes is very important. I've had a tuba brought to me where the issue was 1st slide pulling. I told the customer that we'd do some measuring first, stating that the slide tubes need to be within 2 thousandths of an inch of perfect alignment from top to bottom to work acceptably well. I measured the distance between the tubes top- and bottom, and they were .247" wider at the bottom than at the top, nearly 1/4" out-of-alignment, from the factory (!)

After pulling braces and re-soldering the 1st slide assembly to where the tubes were within one-half of one-thousandth of an inch of perfection, everything was cleaned, the inner tubes lightly buffed, and lubricated with Hetman Slide Oil, it worked like a dream. FWIW, Hetman makes three viscosities of Slide Oil for valve slides - #4 Light Slide Oil, which I normally reserve for tight new trumpets, etc., #5 Slide Oil which works very well on 80% of slides, and #6 Heavy Slide Oil which will make worn slides work well again. With the right viscosity, there is an absolute minimum of leaking-down into the valve casings.