[Zagzig]

I have discovered a way to form a cake of shellac on the back of my pads
I cut a piece of masking tape lengthwise down the centre.

I turn a pad back side up and wrap its circumference with the band of tape thus creationg a mold. I place the pad on the table and drip in the shellac.

Before it is dry there is a window of opportunity to mold the cake with my fingers..

I sometimes use this cake as filler

Sometimes it needs to be a few few millemetres thick.

To place it in the key I have two options.

The key is off the instrument on my worktable. I have placed a coat of shellac in the key,

While the cake of shellac on the back of the pad is still warm, it is possible to place it in the cup and the two surface will adhere as if they were simple glue.

This opens exciting possibilities for not going out of my mind adjusting the pad in the sense that if I have taken the time to measure things, I have the posibility of choosing the amount of protubance and also the angle of the pad.

A second way is for when the empty key is on the horn.

Here I hold the horn with the bell downward and I slide the pad with the cake of molded shellac. into the cup. This way, when I heat the cup the pad can float in the cup a little with out the shellac dripping out.

This means that the shellac can still act as a filler.

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

Personally I hate thick filler behind pads. It is unnecessary.

Thank you to Selmer, Yamaha, and Yanagisawa for not using thick filler!

The only filler I use is to bring the cardboard up to the level of the surrounding leather, and to fill the dome of dome-shaped key cups.

I do not use the glue as a filler between the leather of the pad, and the back of the key cup.

If this approach results in a pad not sealing, then I deal with the cause. I don't accommodate the cause with filler.