Week 6

This week I learned about bell buckles. A buckle can be defined as an instrument where the throat is out of round and may have lighting bolt creases. A buckle can also have a bell fold but in order to fix the bell you have to work out the buckle first. The best tool to start fixing a buckle is a dent roller. First I needed to go after the creases and have the roller inside the bell. It is best to work out as many creases from the inside before moving to the outside. When rolling the outside of the bell it is important to avoid rolling the throat because the bell is out of round and then there will be a false sense of round. Once the bell is coming back to round I had to hammer some of the creases. When hammering it is important to ask yourself "do I need to be hammering?" Hammering can thin the brass so it is important that you make sure you have to hammer. The finishing step in buckles is to make the throat round and the rim flat. These can be accomplished with hammers, rollers and burnishers.

Trombone bell buckle 

The throat is out of round

Restored bell