Tech/maintenance SHWoodwind Updates

Update: This page first appeared as a simple web page all on its own as a follow up to a post made in Alt.Music.Saxophone

Good catch! That was one of the very first articles I wrote. You only get half a point though, because the typo is an s following post. 😛

And yeah, fight or fright is intentional. I think it better captures what happens when a wasp suddenly appears in front of your nose.
 
Coming back to the Stripper story - here's a blog from a chap who likes to restore vintage Martin saxes. He claims that the lacquer used on those horns comes off well using just boiling water! (Not sure it works on more modern lacquers, though). Stuff Sax: 1939 Martin Handcraft Tenor Rebuild

Boiling water will remove cellulose lacquers (or whatever it was they used back in the day), but won't have any effect on acrylic or epoxy lacquers. In fact you can even get away with resoldering a joint on some modern lacquers without burning them...if you're careful and a bit lucky.
I tried heating the lacquer on the sop, but it wouldn't budge.

The Power Strip did a very nice job - and with just one application too. I think what helped is that it turns out the horn isn't silverplated...but nickel plated. It's mostly intact too.

Cheers for the menu typo spot!
 
On the paint stripper - I used Cilit Bang on my mother's cooker. Did a good job of softening the paint. It's since semi dried/reverted to ok, but would have come off with a scrubbing brush.

I think CB is acidic - in which case it probably wouldn't have worked on the lacquer...at least not terribly well.
The trouble with using chemicals which 'sort of' do the job is that often leave more mess than they remove - and you spend longer cleaning up the residues than you do removing the actual lacquer.
Most paint strippers are alkaline, I believe.

I only used CB once - on my cooker - and it stripped away all half the lettering above the knobs before I realised what was going on.
 

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