Removing silver plating

[jaddingtonii]

I have a Boehm and Meinl with about 1/3 of the silver plating gone from use and wear and want to take the rest of it off. I am stationed in the San Antonio, TX area and need some names of reputable shops. Any one have some suggestions? Thanks.
John Addington II

[Daniel C. Oberloh]

Stripping silver plate from a tuba can be done two ways. Mechanically, by sanding and buffing it off. This is not really practical on a tuba unless the instrument is going to be re-plated. The second way which is more thorough and efficient, is chemically done but requires the instrument be unsoldered and broken down into manageable pieces; immersion in strong acids (nitric and sulphuric) mixed with potassium-nitrate dissolves the plate but does attack the base metal (brass) to a degree and requires buffing afterword because it looks like hell. In other words you are looking at an overhaul. If you are not willing to spring for the cost of such work, play it it like it is and leave it at that.

My shop and any other with brass working capability would be able to take it apart and ship to Anderson for silver strip. Polishing it, removing dents, soldering, etc. Thats another story.

MTCW

Daniel C. Oberloh http://www.oberloh.com

Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works
Saving the world, one horn at a time...

[jaddingtonii]

The story of the horn told to me by Matt Walters at Dillon when I bought it last spring is that the horn used to be lacquer-finished but a previous owner had it plated. The company who did it did not use enough coats I guess because it looks like crap now, the whole left side of the horn along with the tops of all the valve slides are bare brass and the rest looks okay, but the finish is not consistant. If you want pictures, let me know and I'll email them to you. Thanks for the advice.
John Addington II

[Mitch]

Should you decide to avoid stripping the remaining silver, you have another option with regard to restoring the missing silverplate.
Caswellplating.com has kits that will effectively replace the missing silver, and if the directions are followed strictly, the results will be very satisfying. They're basically electroplating kits and are very effective at touching up smaller areas. They're very easy to use, and, at about $35 for a whole setup, a fraction of the cost of taking it to a plating shop.
So when you say 1/3 of the silver is missing, is it in one place, or the usual wear here-and-there? If it's the latter, this kit should be perfect.

[jtuba]

Pete and Hugh Rodriguez run an musical instrument repair shop on the south side of San Antonio. They are a father and son outfit that work out of their house on Tupper, if I remember correctly. They do good work at reasonable prices and will point you in the right direction.

Tell Guitierrez, Firch, Rosaly, and Pursel that Cip says hi. I still know a bunch of people there from my days at the 323rd. First on last off.

[jaddingtonii]

Well, it's been a year since I got the horn back, but H&H Music (Brook Mays Group) did a great job on the horn! I wish I had some pictures of when I unwrapped the thing when I got it home! It was buffed to an amazing lustre. Anyway, if you want some before and after shots, leave a line. It is exactly what I wanted!

[Dan Schultz]

How about removing the remnants of an old lacquer finish: someone told me that paint remover would be safe to use.

"Aircraft" brand stripper works on most lacquers. Some of the old Eastlake stuff can be a real bear to get off. If you plan to do any repair work, strip the lacquer first. Heat from soldering makes some lacquers impossible to get off.