Second Semester: Week 12

Saxophone mechanisms can be complex. This week we worked on regulation, venting and lost motion. The saxophone is very interesting. Once I grasped the concept it wasn't too difficult. To change regulation on the sax I used a leak light. The leak light allowed me to see where the pad was leaking and which pad was touching the tone hole first. Leak lights are awesome when working on leather pads. They allow me to see where the pad is leaking and where I need to adjust the pad.

The D pad is not touching because the F# pad (not pictured) is touching before the D

I flexed the D foot to regulate it to the F# key and now the pads seal at the same time

Second Semester: Week 11

This week we worked on saxophone padding and regulation. Padding a saxophone is a mix between padding a flute and clarinet. We use glue to float the pads but then the glue is used to shim the pad where it needs more thickness to be level to the tone hole. Padding takes patience. Since the pad is so large the glue has to be heated in stages so that it can be warmed evenly and moved around the pad cup. It was easy to overheat the glue and then any changes I made didn't stay because the glue cooled and contracted. I had to figure out when the glue was at it's plastic stage so that it was malleable enough to move and create the outcome I was looking for.

This is what taking the old pad out of the pad cup looks like. There has to be enough glue so that the pad can be moved around to seal

Heating the glue and applying it to the back of the new pad

The new pad is then installed and ready to be put back on the saxophone to be finished and leveled to the tone hole

Second Semester: Week 10

After working on play conditions for clarinet and flute we got saxophones to work on! We received our practice horns. We used these for our exploration and experiments. The first thing our instructor made us do was document how we disassembled it and then put it back together. We documented it because each saxophone is built a little different and needs to be disassembled in the order that works for that particular sax. My classmates and I traded saxophones so that we could see how the different horns needed to be taken apart. We have only started saxophones and next week we get to start padding!

My practice saxophone

Practice saxophone disassembled and keys everywhere

My saxophone screwboard that holds all of the saxophones screws and hinge rods

Second Semester: Week 9

Since we are halfway through the semester we switched over to woodwinds. This week was a test of what we all remembered from last semester. We reviewed key fitting, padding and learned about play conditioning. We got a practice clarinet first so that we could replace a few pads and corks. We also talked about the steps to take for a play conditioning and what you should do to be efficient. After the clarinet we received practice flutes where we got to practice padding and corking. It was definitely a good refresher since we have been working on brass for eight weeks.

My practice clarinet

Back to the world of shimming flute pads

Second Semester: Week 8

This was my last week on the brass side. I finished my project trombone early so I turned it in and had the opportunity to work on a customer cornet. The tag said chemical flush and rough out dents. The flush went quicker than the first time I cleaned an instrument. The dents were not too difficult. I gathered all of my acquired knowledge and went to work. It was fun removing the dents and aligning the bell. Since it was basically a playing condition job it was interesting to learn where to stop. Since the repair tag said rough out dents I started by working on all of the accessible dents but I had extra time so I did as many as I could reach with dent tools. I probably wouldn't have had to get out all of the ones I did but it was worth it in the end. I also had to resolder two of the casing to lead pipe braces because they were broken. It was a little nerve racking doing a customer horn but well worth the experience!

Customer cornet

Second Semester: Week 7

This week consisted of more trombone slide work. I worked on practice slide tube dents on a single trombone outer slide tube. After two rounds of practice dents I moved on to a practice hand slide. My instructor put in dents and changed the span and skew of the outer and inner tubes. I had to bring the handslide up to playing condition. I started by cleaning and straightening both the inner and outer tubes. Next, I worked on the span and skew of the inner slide tubes. In order to check the span I looked at the movement of the inner slides after I pulled them out of the outer tubes. Once the skew and span was fixed I worked on the outer tube dents. I started by roughing them out and then finishing them with the steel hammer. As I was working I realized the lower inner tube was out of round and was making it difficult to determine what the slide was suppose to feel like. I brought it back to the best playing condition without burnishing or changing out the tube.

My practice trombone slide. Here there is nothing wrong with it yet, but once my instructor got a hold of it I was in for a treat!

Finally after all that practicing I got to work on my project trombone. I worked on the crook/guard dent. I tried to preserve the guard by pulling it up but the bumper starting ripping the guard so I ended up taking it off.

The crook/guard that is pushed in and needs to be fixed

Second Semester: Week 6

This week we continued to work on trombones and focused on trombone handslides. I learned that when working on outer handslide dents it is important to have multiple hammers on hand. To rough out the dent start with the closest fitting slide mandrel inside the outer tube and hit the dent with a raw hide mallet. Then move to a large delrin hammer. Once the dent is roughed out you can move to a nose picker. This helps bring the dents up to surface and can be finished with a steel hammer on a slide mandrel.

I also worked on trombone bell dent work. The main work on this bell was a bell fold.

We also got to hear from band instrument repair technicians that spoke at the NAPBIRT regional conference this past weekend. Scott Mandeville discussed the culture of a workshop and the attitude of technicians. He also talked about the synthetic Omni Pads. Omni pads are a great alternative to bladder pads and can withstand changing climates. Mike Corrigan is a Red Wing graduate that talked to us about trombone handslide repair. It was great to hear how he works on slides and how he makes his own trombones and trumpets. It was very informative day.