What can I do to unstick the top cap of my mellophone? I don't want to break it cause its a school instrument but I have to wait a week to get it unstuck by the teacher and I really need to oil the valves
It's a hard one. Some people would sat to use channel locks (pliers). But if you're not careful you can damage the cap. Or I have seen people squeeze way to hard and make the valve casing off round. You can try putting some kind of clothe around the valve cap. Then use channel locks. There is another way but you need a raw hide mallet. Just be careful. You could always pull a tuning slide, depress the valve half way. Then drop some oil in. At least your valves will be oiled till the teacher can get fix the cap.
@@barneynelson1403 i will try the way Tomorrow when my dad can help me out. Thank you so much. I will be sure to tell him to be careful with gripping the cap 😂
That's a resurrection job more than a repair ! For filing dings in the valves, maybe 96/4 silver bearing solder would be good ? It melts a bit hotter than regular soft solder but should not crystalize the surrounding joints and it has way more tensile strength. IDK if it's better in terms of friction and if nickel plating would hold to it if you want to replate, though
Regarding that pipe that you wanted to cut in half to remove the dents: given a large enough oven, would annealing the pipe give you and the magnetic balls enough advantage so they might work? That way, you could avoid having to cut it, and gain some mechanical advantage over the now stiffer, aged brass. Just a thought.
@@amsmithonline Of course, but I was concerned about annealing it consistently so it doesn't develop any weird stresses. Since it's old, wrapped tubing - emphasis on old - heating it unevenly might cause more issues than it solves.
I would worry that while annealing might make it so the current dents can be removed slightly more completely, the area will also be much more susceptible to dents in the future, so in the long term it could just make the problem worse. I also don't know if one can safely anneal seamed tubing like that, especially when there are clearly areas where the brazing is starting to fail. I would definitely lean towards allowing some dents to remain without cutting the tubing, as I personally find the idea of cutting tubing on historic instruments to access small dents to be a solution worse than the problem.
I would get a dent ball in there and get the dents out that way without annealing, since it is a cylindrical tube the I'd get the dents out as best I could with shaking a ball through, but then using a magnet to hold the ball against the remaining dents on the inside and tap with a small delrin mallet. I've found it works incredibly well for either getting remaining dents or at least blending things in well.
@@jeremypeplinski5098 I would be wary of annealing such old brass too much as I have had old brass just crack apart. Annealing to soften the brass is a great way to remove stubborn dents, when you are working metal that has been annealed the metal work hardens as you work it so no need to worry about it staying soft forever.
If the metal is thin or already starting to red rot, it can take off some of the metal. It is a very very small amount though, and not usually anything to worry about. This instrument has good metal so it should be fine.
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So....would it be safe to say....when all is said and done, could we call it a "most harmonic" euphonium?😂
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What can I do to unstick the top cap of my mellophone? I don't want to break it cause its a school instrument but I have to wait a week to get it unstuck by the teacher and I really need to oil the valves
It's a hard one. Some people would sat to use channel locks (pliers). But if you're not careful you can damage the cap. Or I have seen people squeeze way to hard and make the valve casing off round. You can try putting some kind of clothe around the valve cap. Then use channel locks. There is another way but you need a raw hide mallet.
Just be careful. You could always pull a tuning slide, depress the valve half way. Then drop some oil in. At least your valves will be oiled till the teacher can get fix the cap.
@@barneynelson1403 i will try the way Tomorrow when my dad can help me out. Thank you so much. I will be sure to tell him to be careful with gripping the cap 😂
I love these videos that show all the small details of the instrument repair, I can’t wait to see whats in store for this instrument!
That's a resurrection job more than a repair !
For filing dings in the valves, maybe 96/4 silver bearing solder would be good ? It melts a bit hotter than regular soft solder but should not crystalize the surrounding joints and it has way more tensile strength. IDK if it's better in terms of friction and if nickel plating would hold to it if you want to replate, though
Also it avoids leaded solder in the player's breath I suppose it's cool
Regarding that pipe that you wanted to cut in half to remove the dents: given a large enough oven, would annealing the pipe give you and the magnetic balls enough advantage so they might work? That way, you could avoid having to cut it, and gain some mechanical advantage over the now stiffer, aged brass. Just a thought.
There's no lacquer, so it could be torch annealed. Same with the bell.
@@amsmithonline Of course, but I was concerned about annealing it consistently so it doesn't develop any weird stresses. Since it's old, wrapped tubing - emphasis on old - heating it unevenly might cause more issues than it solves.
I would worry that while annealing might make it so the current dents can be removed slightly more completely, the area will also be much more susceptible to dents in the future, so in the long term it could just make the problem worse. I also don't know if one can safely anneal seamed tubing like that, especially when there are clearly areas where the brazing is starting to fail. I would definitely lean towards allowing some dents to remain without cutting the tubing, as I personally find the idea of cutting tubing on historic instruments to access small dents to be a solution worse than the problem.
I would get a dent ball in there and get the dents out that way without annealing, since it is a cylindrical tube the I'd get the dents out as best I could with shaking a ball through, but then using a magnet to hold the ball against the remaining dents on the inside and tap with a small delrin mallet. I've found it works incredibly well for either getting remaining dents or at least blending things in well.
@@jeremypeplinski5098 I would be wary of annealing such old brass too much as I have had old brass just crack apart. Annealing to soften the brass is a great way to remove stubborn dents, when you are working metal that has been annealed the metal work hardens as you work it so no need to worry about it staying soft forever.
Great video! Can’t wait to see this restored. Just curious, what are the risks with chem cleaning an old instrument
If the metal is thin or already starting to red rot, it can take off some of the metal. It is a very very small amount though, and not usually anything to worry about. This instrument has good metal so it should be fine.
Expensive repair.