Polishing trick

[arock]

I thought I would share my new found trick. I have been doing several polish jobs on Alto's lately.
I found that cutting the end off a Q-tip, it will lock in a Dremel tool. Using your finger, rub the rouge or polish into the cotton by hand. This will keep the cotton from flying off the stick. Now you can get into those tight spots.

 

[daveysaxboy]

Cleaning a sax !!!! that's sounds like a dirty habit... and hard work.

 

[jbtsax]

I have found the ones on plastic sticks don't work nearly as well. I don't know if our friends across the pond have Q-tips. They're call cotton swabs and ear buds in some other places. Q-tip is the common brand we have in the U.S.

 

[arock]

All I have are the plastic ones. One thing for sure, you will never ruin your sax. I do mostly hand work. But, there are those little places, hard to reach, that the Q-tip, cotton swab, works perfect.
If you can play, great. If you can't, you polish. I am a beginner, I practice three time a day. When my mouth and lip give out, it is polish time. I do buy and sell old Bueschers, so I am always working on something.
Retired: boring without a project.

 

[kevgermany]

Yes, we do get Q Tips here. Good tip (pun intended) thanks. But go easy on the polish and power, it can take the plating off..

 

[jbtsax]

Yes, we do get Q Tips here. Good tip (pun intended) thanks. But go easy on the polish and power, it can take the plating off..

That's why I use MAAS metal polish with my spinning tips instead of buffing compound.

 

[Rogerb]

Practically all 'metal polishes' are, to some degree, abrasive.
I wouldn't use any abrasive on a rapidly spinning Q-tip, on a sax, except on bare brass(which I don't have) ... But each to his own.

I wish I could get a small hand-drill which spins at rather less than 5.000 rpm ... for various uses.

 

[sushidushi]

Perhaps Q-Tips (the name brand ones) are different in California, but in Canada I have never known them to have plastic sticks.

I bought a Dremel several years ago (presumably for a now long-forgotten and -abandoned project) and have never used it. I suspect it might be helping to polish my sax soon :thumbup:

 

[kevgermany]

I wish I could get a small hand-drill which spins at rather less than 5.000 rpm ... for various uses.

Dremel should do that.

 

[Rogerb]

I wish they would, Kev, but AFAIK, the drills all have a minimum of at least 5k ... the expensive 8300 claims to go from 3k, but it is not a driil.

 

[Ivan]

I wish they would, Kev, but AFAIK, the drills all have a minimum of at least 5k ... the expensive 8300 claims to go from 3k, but it is not a driil.

Wot about a bog standard cordless drill? They have a variable speed from nought to max e.g Deadlink Removed

 

[Rogerb]

Good thinking, Batman ... I have a cheapo Chinese one in the back of a cupboard, somewhere, if the battery -pack hasn't given up the Ghost!
(Have now dug it out and am hoping it will charge-up) ... thanks)

 

[kevgermany]

I wish they would, Kev, but AFAIK, the drills all have a minimum of at least 5k ... the expensive 8300 claims to go from 3k, but it is not a driil.

My super cheap Lidl copy runs from 0 upwards. And when the chuck's loose that bit never turns...

 

[jbtsax]

As a professional repairman I use a dremel tool with a flexible shaft and adjustable chuck operated by a foot switch. It is one of my "go to" tools when doing overhauls and restorations. A variable speed dremel and flex shaft can be purchased for around $100, and the foot switch another $20 - $25. The adjustable chuck which is indispensible is only around $10.

 

[Rogerb]

They may be available in USA, but I have yet to find, in Europe, a Dremel drill with a minimum speed below 5k rpm, which is far too fast for some applications, IMO.
The problem with ordinary hand drills, which are often multi-speed (I have two) is that they are usually too heavy for easy one-handed operation, especially in confined spaces.