Stuck tuning slide

Art Hovey · Post by **Art Hovey** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 11:41 pm

I use a "heat gun", which is like a super hair-dryer, normally used for stripping paint. It heats up the tubing to the point where it is too hot to touch but not hot enough to damage the laquer. Then while the metal is still hot I yank on the slide with a piece of rope tied to a hammer head or a 5-pound chunk of lead. Usually that does the trick. (The heat softens the old dried-out slide grease.) A propane torch can get it too hot, melting the solder. You don't want that to happen.
I have been told that penetrating oil and patience can also help, but I have not had much success with that approach.

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 12:46 am

Art Hovey wrote:I use a "heat gun", which is like a super hair-dryer, normally used for stripping paint. It heats up the tubing to the point where it is too hot to touch but not hot enough to damage the laquer. Then while the metal is still hot I yank on the slide with a piece of rope tied to a hammer head or a 5-pound chunk of lead. .....

THAT's pretty aggressive

Granted, that ought to make things move, but I prefer to use a little less force for the first attempt... unless of course, you are prepared to fix a sprung slide or separated tubes, ferrules, and crooks. Some gentle taps combined with a little heat, penetrating oil, and slide-pulling pliers usually does the trick for me. A good yank on a slide could actually cause distortion damage to the piston casings.

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 1:52 am

For a first try, I like to use a little penetrating oil, then some cloth to spread the force out as far as you can. I let the oil do it's thing for a while, then try a couple of easy 'pop's with the cloth. If that doesn't work, I'll go to plan B...

quinterbourne · Post by **quinterbourne** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:02 am

mryan55 wrote:I was messing around on an old Conn 20J today and noticed that all of the tuning slides were pretty well stuck. The horn isn't mine and nobody at my institution seems to be interested in it, so I was just curious as to if there are any tips that can be served up to get stuck tuning slides free.

I searched but couldn't find anything that explicitly dealt with the topic. This horn isn't of great importance to me and I don't really plan to play it in public, but it might be an interesting diversion from other things.

Thanks

If the horn isn't yours, you probably should not be taking a flame to it like some people here suggest.

The oils and tapping some people suggest is a great idea. Another option, perhaps, warm water? I wouldn't go with too hot water, out of fear for the lacquer.

If in doubt, bring it into a repair shop. Things like stuck tuning slides are super cheap... many time cheaper than what you'd have to pay to fix an accident caused by creativity.

prototypedenNIS · Post by **prototypedenNIS** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:51 am

don't be afraid to send it to a tech... it may take a tech 5 minutes where you can spend hours waiting and fighting with it.

chances are, if it's that gunked it should probably get a professional cleaning anyway

prototypedenNIS · Post by **prototypedenNIS** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:51 pm

BAT boy wrote:Sometimes stuck slides arent as cheap to get done as one may think. Sometimes the slide has to be disassembled and each tube removed individually. I dont like slide pliers as much as they can mark up the surface and the vibration drives me nuts. Id start with penetrating oil. The heat gun is a good idea as well, maybe you can try a a hairdryer. But get it to a repairmen before you tear sumthin apart,I have seen lots of bad things happen when folks are deadset on yanin that slide out. Yesterday I got a trumpet that was in three pieces, needless to say the tube was still stuck and the crook solder joint wus busted.

we don't disaasemble...
we do use tools that allow us to tap on the ferrules.
we try penetrating oil and tapping first
If we need to do some extensive work to pull it out, the methods listed above won't help

Donn · Post by **Donn** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 2:50 pm

Art Hovey wrote:I have been told that penetrating oil and patience can also help, but I have not had much success with that approach.

Took a month or two when I tried it, but that was probably luck.

SplatterTone · Post by **SplatterTone** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 2:59 pm

Sure fire way to do it; this never fails:
1. Suspend instrument high above the floor -- concrete floor is best.
2. Take an extremely expensive, breakable item and suspend it from the slide in such a way that if the slide comes out, the item will fall to the floor and break.

The slide will come right out.

TubaRay · Post by **TubaRay** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 9:02 pm

SplatterTone wrote:Sure fire way to do it; this never fails:
1. Suspend instrument high above the floor -- concrete floor is best.
2. Take an extremely expensive, breakable item and suspend it from the slide in such a way that if the slide comes out, the item will fall to the floor and break.

The slide will come right out.

I don't know if you are statiscally correct or not. However, from my experience, you are absolutely correct.

prototypedenNIS · Post by **prototypedenNIS** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 1:41 pm

batboy, there are a set of tools that you can use... I'll check and see if I can find them in the ferree's catalog when I have time. They are shaped like pliers except instead of jagged teeth, they have round sections that wrap around a slide, allowing you to apply force directly on the ferrule.

You then tap on the plier.
You may find that easier.

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Thu Dec 22, 2005 1:47 pm

Besides, the slide isn't stuck... the tuba is!

tubamirum · Post by **tubamirum** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 9:03 am

I keep seeing references to "hot water" being bad for lacquer. I wish it were as it would make stripping a horn a much simpler job. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to strip lacquer with hot water particularly that bLank blank King stuff.

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 10:52 am

bloke wrote:sounds like a few too many "hits". Again, I use my bare hands (as nothing tears up instruments more efficiently than "tools"). I also often first use a careful sideways twisting motion (to break the tubes free in a slightly rotational motion) rather than an outward yanking motion. Frankly (not any sort of brag at all) most people's fingers, hands, and wrists are not strong enough to execute a lot of routine brass repair operations. I don't have well-developed biceps or anything like that...and I'm generally tragically out of shape, but I could probably squeeze water out of steel with my hands.

What would you recommend for a third valve slide that had a dent in the outer/inner?

cheburashka · Post by **cheburashka** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 9:31 pm

tubamirum wrote:

I keep seeing references to "hot water" being bad for lacquer. I wish it were as it would make stripping a horn a much simpler job. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to strip lacquer with hot water particularly that bLank blank King stuff.

I was stripping an Olds trombone, and chemical strippers weren't working at all. I ended up suspending the bell in a big container of boiling water and boiling it for twenty minutes. It did get rid of the lacquer, and it added new meaning to the term "soup bone."

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Stuck tuning slide

Re: Stuck tuning slide

stuck crooks