Posted by Joe S. on April 02, 2001 at 18:40:04:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Repeated bell damage, replace bell? posted by Chuck(G) on April 02, 2001 at 11:00:10:
Although it was a bit of trouble, the best tuba bell rim crack repair that I ever did involved some of that thin-walled "hobby" brass tubing:
1/ I bought the diameter of that stuff that was closest to the appearance of the bell rim bead.
2/ I bent a 2 inch section of it to match the curvature of the bell rim.
3/ I jammed a piece of steel rod in it and secured it with a vice.
4/ Using a high speed rotary grinder, I cut the piece of brass "hobby" tubing length-wise.
5/ After opening up the slit tubing a little with a screwdriver, I popped the tubing over the tuba's bell rim in the cracked area.
6/ Using a dent hammer, I tapped around on the piece of tubing and fit it very nicely over the rim.
7/ After soldering the tubing "patch" to the bell rim, I blended it in to the tuba using first a file, then sandpaper, then the buffing machine.
Joe "just a tangent remark to your conversation" S.