That top photo, right hand pad, is how two of them look on the now purchased Buffet (see:
http://cafesaxophone.com/threads/another-buffet-couldnt-resist.15673/page-2#post-210077) .
I had thoughts of finding a clever way of repairing them, with leather repair filler, glue, whatever... but of course once damaged they'll continue to fall to bits, being so old. So, with 5 damaged pads I have the following choices:
1/ Get them replaced professionally. Goes against the grain of having a "wall hanger which plays" and would likely triple the purchase cost of £50.
2/ Replace the damaged ones myself. It would be good to try pad replacement. The only DIY repair job I haven't had a go at, apart from dent removal. Would need to find a plain pads, no rivet, to do this.
3/ Replace ALL the pads. This would cost £300-400 by a repairer so that's not going to happen. Changing them all myself brings far more problems than replacing two, maybe five, individual pads so option 2 has to be the right choice at present. I appreciate more may fail over time.
The three "unholed" pads had the leather coming away from the cup at the edge so I have glued the gaps and held the leather in position against the cup edge until the glue sets. This doesn't affect the pad seating area, so should work, but these pads will be the first to let go again. All pads have now been treated with leather conditioner and none were or are now at all hard. In fact they were all very clean to start with. Good quality leather in 1922 I guess!
So, I need to find two plain white or brown pads of the correct size and thickness, no rivet or reflector, and a way of sticking them in (I have Steve Howard's book). Shellac seems more alien to me than hot glue, but then I have to find the correct hot glue. I'm aware Shellac is better for floating pads but I'm unlikely to perfect this technique with two pads!
I was reading last night that a soldering iron (someone used a clothes iron!) held against the key cup can be a way of heating it sufficiently to soften the glue, in the same way a Votaw cup heater works I guess, only not as precise temperature-wise. (See:
http://www.votawtool.com/tools/general-shop-tools/torches-amp-heating-tools/pad-cup-heater.html)
I have both blow torch and mini torch (for creme brûlée) but I know I'll burn myself.
I see some folks (and techs,
@griff136 ) have used blutack as a temporary fix. This is what's really needed isn't it - something that's hand-heat malleable, stays soft for a while so you can position the pad, then goes hard once cooled, but can be easily removed. Ideal! So what's wrong with blutack as a permanent repair? I guess it's not reliably sticky enough?
As a next move, I'll take the two holed pads/keys to Charlie Connolly and see if he has some suitable pads he can let me have. He'll offer to do it naturally, but with that will come other offshoots of work required which isn't what I want for this horn. It's going to be more of a test-bed I think. A bit like the Russian tenor I bought a few years back, but worth keeping, displaying, and occasionally playing.
Work in progress...
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