[flava]

I have removed (1) removed the red bloom/rot; (2) delacquered; and (3) hand polished the horn and keys.

I am most proud of removing pock marks and dents in the bow with a homemade MDRS gizmo. Bow looks new. no pockmoars.

I soldered a brace post. It took me 5 hours and 5 tries for a job that only takes 3 minutes for someone who knows.

I have repadded most of the keys. The snap ins are great. JICaino is right. If everything is in working order, a trained chimp can do it. .

Next is reinstalling the springs. Then putting it back together.

It has been a real learning experience.

I am attaching some photos. The SOTW forum has been an incredible resource. I hope to restore it fully in the coming weeks.
Flava

 

[saintsday]

Good for you! You are very brave. My all time favorite tenor is a 340,xxx.

 

[jicaino]

I need to go to the post office! I had a crazy week man! I'll be shipping ASAP

 

[Soul Patch Paul]

Way cool, flava! Please give updates as things develop. Looks like a lot of fun!

 

[flava]

I need to go to the post office! I had a crazy week man! I'll be shipping ASAP

Juan,
I know you are busy! Whenever you get a chance.

I am also waiting for the right size pads from Music Medic. As you have indicated in a previous post, the 156 Aristocrat uses slightly different pads than the Series I Aristocrat and I forgot to indicate that on my order.

Again, I really appreciate your willingness to help as I know you are busy.

Thanks,
Flava

 

[saintsday]

MDRS Mars Desert Research Station (Utah)
MDRS Marconi Digital Radio System
MDRS Midwest Double Reed Society
MDRS Multilingual Distributed Referential System
MDRS Maintenance Data Recording System
MDRS Message Distribution & Retrieval Subsystem


?????

 

[flava]

MDRS Mars Desert Research Station (Utah)
MDRS Marconi Digital Radio System
MDRS Midwest Double Reed Society
MDRS Multilingual Distributed Referential System
MDRS Maintenance Data Recording System
MDRS Message Distribution & Retrieval Subsystem

?????

MDRS could be all of that but... I meant a Magnetic Dent Removal System.
Basically, I ordered a rare earth magnet and a 1 1/2 inch steel ball from K&S Magnetics. With the ball in the bow and the magnet outside, you roll out the dents.

THis is after my other homemade dent removal ( a threaded rod and some wooden balls) failed to work: rod would bend, etc.

So the homemade MDRS worked! (at least for the dents on the bow).
Flava

 

[saintsday]

You have me intrigued. Which ball and which magnet did you order from K&S?

 

[Grumpie]

Good for you! You are very brave. My all time favorite tenor is a 340,xxx.

+1, great you're getting that horn in shape again.
Mine is a 340,xxx too Saintsday, and just as good looking as yours. :mrgreen: Great player.

Good luck flava, have fun with this project, hope too find another one myself in the future and do the same.

 

[Sakshama]

Hey,
My Buescher is #347XXX, and the other #348XXX.
I'm also interested in that magnet thing. Maybe some links to the exact products.
Greetings,
Sakshama

 

[flava]

Hey everyone,

Glad to know there are other 34x.xxxs out there with happy players. It is an incentive to get mine playing soon.

I am a dabbler and beginner in sax overhauls, so please be aware that I am just sharing my experience.

From K&J Magnetics in Jamison PA, I bought

DX8C 1 1/2 x 3/4 N42 magnet for $ 34.98
NSBX8 1 1/12 Nickel plated steel Ball ($7.35).

The first letters are the product code.
You can read more about them at the following link

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/uses.asp

If you scroll down, you can see their description of use for "Dent Removal for Musiical Instruments"

The magnet I used is N42 although they sell stronger N52 and N60 magnets, which are probably better.

To increase the pull strength, I added a 1 1/2 steel washer on both ends of the magnet (Be careful those puppies really pull and can pinch a finger).

Then I tried to build a housing from PVC tubing, but the strength of the magnet declines exponentially if there is 2/10ths of an inch (From 150 lbs to 50 lbs). You can read up on this in the technical details for each magnet. Bottom line, what I bought did the job.

I decided to wrap the magnet in some cotton and gave up on building a pvc/flashlight-like housing as too time consuming for my purposes (I used Pledge Furniture cleaner to avoid scratching the surface).

Let me say one more thing...

The 1 and 1/2 inch ball works great for removing dents and pock marks from the bow. It does not work for dents close to posts.

For the bell, you really need a 2 or 2.5 inch ball. I am trying to get one. Use of the smaller ball can leave ridges on the bell.

Again, I am sharing my experience with no claims to expertise or vast reserves of experience in sax repair. I am a total newbie. I can't describe how surprised I was to see how well it "erased" the dents and pock marks on the bell. Magic!

It has been a really enjoyable learning experience. Last night I stayed up until 3 am trying to figure out where and how each key fits. I forgot to take pics when I disassembled the horn, but did use a peg board for the rods, screws and springs.

I am waiting for a few pads to finish putting it back together.

Then, the outer limits of current abilities will be reached... Will have to learn how to eliminate leaks, seat pads, and then regulate the horn.

Knowing that there are happy 34X.XXX players out there, will keep me going. I really have to get back into my day job. I am one more addict to SOTW!

 

[jicaino]

great information fernando! keep that coming.