Handling raw brass...

[MichaelAlsop]

Hey Tubenet. This is my first post here. I am a middle school band director in Central Indiana and just recently got back into playing after being away from the horn since graduating (5 years).

I recently visited with Dan Schultz (The Village Tinker) at his home/shop in Newburgh, IN, and came away with a beautiful, refurbished York Master from the early 70's. I really liked the horn when I bought it, and even more now as my chops are starting to return and I can hear what it is supposed to sound like.

I just have one question: Other than the obvious (holding a towel, wearing a glove), are there any creative solutions out there that will help stop my hands from turning green while dealing with the raw brass? Is there anything I should avoid so that I don't accidentally damage the horn?

[FreeBandMusic]

I have a 1952 Mirafone 186. When I got it, the laquer was flaking off; it left my green hands and clothes and little shiney flakes, and it 'old horn smell'. I gave it a very thorough bath, then it wiped with a oily rag. Baby oil? I don't remember... but then it wiped good again. It's been at least 15 years, with no other cleaning, polishing, cleaning, anything. No green hands, no smell. Sometimes, when I'm playing trombone, I have left it in the bag for months. No problems.

I had the Martin Eb, also raw brass. I polished it nice and shiney ONCE, found it hard it was, and never did it again. A GOOD bath, then wipe of oil. That's it.

My guess is the green or black hands, or smell, is the laquer, oil, cleaner, or polish. Or maybe the horn has built up decades of tarnish. I would start with a good soapy bath.

Good luck.

[Donn]

Seems to me that if you're going to apply something to protect it, it should go more or less all over. A patch of lacquer or similar will stay one color, while the bare brass around it darkens, for that scabby look that old lacquered tubas get (but in reverse.) Or mask off the area around the patch in an artistic way so it looks like you knew what you were doing.

Oil makes some sense as an option, but use mineral oil - motor oil, gun oil, whatever. Not vegetable oil, which will get rancid and sticky. "Boiled" linseed oil or similar will polymerize and make a hard finish, never heard of anyone doing this and it probably isn't a good idea, could easily be a big mess and it will yellow over time.

I have used Maas "Metal Protector", which claims to leave a protective film. Can't say for sure how well it worked - there's some darkening, lot of water spotting and such, and I don't think I had any trouble with green hands before either.

[thevillagetuba]

I had this problem when I received my F tuba. I use the two-sided polishing clothes (Blitz Polishing Cloth) and it removed all of the tarnish/build up on the horn leaving a nice lustrous shine. I no longer have to deal with the smell or the green hands.

[Sandlapper]

I also have a raw brass horn, 186 that I got from Dan and have never had a problem with green on the hand. I did wash the horn and apply a good auto wax where I hold the horn and I have a Naugahide wrap around the horn where my right wrist rest against the bell. I wonder it the green is leftovers from Dan buffing the horn.

I don't know about your horn whether it's a rotary valve instrument, but do a search on washing horn. It might have been a post by Dan on the need to care for the linkage mechanism to make certain it stayed dry as the pins are steel and can rust.

Enjoy your new baby.

[Wyvern]

You can use Renaissance Wax to put coating over tuba. I used that when playing raw brass and it slowed tarnish and stopped that smell.

It is available on EBay

[bigtubby]

I regularly play a raw brass tuba that has a fairly heavy patina. The patina is worn off and the brass polished where I hold it and I've never had problems with green hands.

As did someone above, I wonder if the green hands aren't an artifact of Dan's finishing process - is your instrument one of his "satin finish" horns? I have one of these that I've never had problems with but it got a serious bath when I first brought it home.

[Dan Schultz]

Michael... it's been seven or eight months since I assembled your York 'Master'. Any 'green-ish' smears you see (especially in tight areas like between tubes where it's hard to get to) are just places where soldering flux wasn't completely neutralized. Don't worry... it won't hurt anything. Just get a piece of Scotch-Brite and scrub it off. Car wax or even Pledge will help retard tarnishing. If left alone, the surface will develop a dark brown-ish patina.

[MichaelAlsop]

Thanks everyone!

I wasn't terribly worried. The green isn't on the horn, Dan. It was showing up on my hands after playing for a considerable amount of time, almost as if there was a chemical reaction happening between the brass and the natural oils on my hands. However, after a 90 minute practice session today, hardly any green on the hands. Perhaps it was what someone mentioned about the finishing process leaving some sort of residue on the horn that I was picking up. Is that a possibility?

The patina and it's color don't bother me. I just don't want to accidentally be eating away at the instrument with my hands. I'm not sure how fragile the raw brass is (I played on a nickle-silver plated tuba in high school and ended up wearing gloves to avoid tarnishing the finish).

[bigtubby]

Great to hear that it is abating! Something that I considered after posting above:

A guitarist that I work with has "poison fingers" - he will kill a new set of (brass or bronze wound) guitar strings in five minutes of playing. I cringe when he asks to play a guitar that I have recently worked on and restrung because it will cost me a set of strings and the time to restring it. This thread has made me wonder how a raw (or silver plated for that matter) tuba would react to him.

[Donn]

I beg your pardon, but is that the same as "piss finger"? Metal worker term I believe.

[Art Hovey]

It's not hard to wash the green off your hands, but I knew someone whose sweaty hand actually made a hole in his tuba where he held it.
A repair guy put a nice patch over the hole, and eventually there was a hole in the patch. There's a lot of salt in perspiration, and salt water attacks brass. One easy solution is to wrap plastic tape around the tubing where you hold it.

[MichaelAlsop]

I'm happy to report that after three weeks of regular use there are no longer any green hands. I did, however, buy some Naugahyde and some Velcro with adhesive, with plans to make some home-made wraps for where my right forearm makes contact with the horn and where my left hand grabs - Just in case. I'll share pictures once I finish the project.

[MichaelAlsop]

Here are some pictures. It was quite the trial-and-error process. The cover for my left hand looks a little crude, but these will be coming off for performances. I was more concerned about function than form.