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.