[Raphyel]

I won a mark vii on ebay..can a dent be removed from the bow of a horn? I mean its on the very bottom

 

[Wind_Mill]

Short answer: sure. But in that location -- right through the bow reinforcement plate -- (I saw the ebay pic....), it's usually more work and more $$ compared to fixing a dent in the tubing alone.

Judging from that pic, the dent doesn't appear to have displaced much bow volume and may not have affected tuning in any way, so ...... don't do anything if the horn sounds fine as it is.

 

[Raphyel]

Well I am getting it for a friend .....he has a series II alto in great shape..but he wats to trade for a mark VII..I want the horn to be in as reasonably good condition when I trade with him....i was gonna get an overhaul and all dents removed on it.

 

[crashkahuna]

I did that on a 16M and it was quite a learning experience. I ended up taking off the bell and the plate on the bottom of the bow (partly just to see if I could do it). The bow came out good but imperfections in rejoining that base plate and needing to spot lacquer at the collar detract a bit.

I considered using a tool that goes thru the d# hole but I was afraid if I slipped I could dent the tonehole which would pretty much trash the sax. So I now don't mind just leaving some bow dents - you don't really see them

 

[bfoster64]

I was told you have to desolder the bottom plate, remove the dent, then replace the plate.

 

[JerryJamz2]

I was told you have to desolder the bottom plate, remove the dent, then replace the plate.

Based upon info provided and without a pic posted, I agree. You must be familiar with my friends/techs at Wally's Music?

 

[jaumes]

has somebody used this tool succesfully?



Thanks.

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

I have not used it, but cannot imagine it working unless you were a very heavy person and put your whole weight on it, in which case that long rod may very well flex enough to even bend the body of the sax... Unless the bow was made from exceptionally weak metal.

It often takes quite severe impacts to get dents out of bows. This tool uses no impact, and distributes force over too big an area to deliver a lot of force.

 

[Lorenzo Muan]

for what it's worth ...

I have a Selmer SAII with a significant dent on the bow, but it still plays with a fantastic sound - not only my opinion, but also that of pros and teachers who have tried it ...

It may just not be worth the hassle.

my 2 cents,
L.

 

[Pinnman]

I had a Malerne with a heavy bow dent, heel plate and all. I found a repairer who sweated buckets, but got the job done. For about £20 at the time (about three years ago), it was a bargain.

 

[crashkahuna]

It looks to me like that tool could not distribute the force to push out that dent directly enough on the dent. I am amazed how much pressure it takes to push them out. But I would also like to know if anyone has had any success with it.

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

Many saxes would play better with a dent there. It does the same as a cork or M/P cap dropped into the bell to stop low notes burbling. Even some Mark VI saxes had this problem so bad that Selmer eventually band-aided by soldering in the equivalent of a large dent!

 

[JerryJamz2]

I have not used it, but cannot imagine it working unless you were a very heavy person and put your whole weight on it, in which case that long rod may very well flex enough to even bend the body of the sax... Unless the bow was made from exceptionally weak metal.

It often takes quite severe impacts to get dents out of bows. This tool uses no impact, and distributes force over too big an area to deliver a lot of force.

I would agree Gordon. Even if the tool/rod were mounted vertically, the tech can only apply downward force which is equal to their own body weight. As I am only 150 lbs myself, instances like this are when I wish I was gifted with being 225 lbs.

And the Bohm tool would only be useful on dents which were in the center-most region of the bow, as the sides of the tool "shoe" are flat. So if the dent were large, or perhaps on the side of the bow, would render this tool relatively limited to useless in this instance.

 

[jbtsax]

Does anyone else use what we call "the batter up" method for removing these bell bow dents? We use a dent ball mounted on a straight rod held loosely in a vice inserted through a tonehole that is positioned by one tech under the dent (being very careful not to touch the edge of the tonehole). The other tech, using a baseball bat or bowling pin taps up on the underside of the rod to hammer the dent out for deep dents, and taps on the upper side of the rod creating a rebound effect for smaller dents. Many dents can be removed this way without unsoldering the bell brace, but of course you can do a better job cosmetically by the unsoldering method which takes a lot more time. The magnet and dent balls we have just don't have enough force to be effective through two layers of metal on dents such as these.

 

[JerryJamz2]

Yes John, we call it the "reverse rebound" method in our shop.

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

Yes, I use that method too, bult it is a lot more tricky with only two arms available!

 

[t-tane]

has somebody used this tool succesfully?



Thanks.

Yes I have rings and on some cases they works great. Pressing the dents out is difficult but there is enough space to hit the horn against ring. But dent must be on the very bottom.

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

A tech once said to me that one can never have too big a range of dent tools.

Very true. Each one does SOMETHING well.

 

[crashkahuna]

Has anyone had any success using a slide hammer (internal hammer thru C hole) for bow dents? Like the Feree N85 sax body dent remover. Thanks!

 

[hakukani]

Many saxes would play better with a dent there. It does the same as a cork or M/P cap dropped into the bell to stop low notes burbling. Even some Mark VI saxes had this problem so bad that Selmer eventually band-aided by soldering in the equivalent of a large dent!

My MkVI plays better in the low range since a drunk knocked it off its stand during a wedding reception at a country club.

I don't recommend this readjustment, however.