Posted by Chuck(G) on April 04, 2003 at 12:13:56:
In Reply to: Dent eraser posted by Tony Clements on April 04, 2003 at 01:12:23:
I don't use the UMI product--there's just too much danger of putting new "ridges" into soft metal using round balls. I use standard dent barrel-shaped balls and a magnet with both poles meeting on the face. This allows me to control the orientation of the barrel.
The trick is to select a barrel whose curvature matches the cross-sectional curvature of the area you're trying to un-dent. Grease the barrel, use a heavy-duty mylar sheet protector (the kind that holds loose leaf sheets) between the (greased) magnet and the horn, and roll the barrell along the dent. If you chosen your ball carefullly, the repair can be almost invisible. For smaller tubes, orient the dent barrell the standard way. Last night, I dropped the fifth slide from my Willson on the floor and left a small dent in the top of it. Got home, took my rig and 30 seconds later, the crook looked like new. I could have used a standard dent rod and unsoldered one slide leg and gotten the same results, but this was so much faster and left the (silverplate) finish in perfect condition.
Even after I've disassembled a horn, I'll use the magnet-with-barrel to take out small-to-moderate dents in crooks--it's just so much easier than balls and rods and the results can be excellent if the damage isn't too serious.
There are some jobs that you have to approach using the customary tools. Bells being one case, leadpipes, bottom bows under the guard, deep dents etc. Sometimes you can unsolder the guard on a bottom bow without taking the whole horn apart, remove the dent in the bottom bow and guard using the magnet and resolder the guard. Saves a step or three.
Be careful--strong rare earth magnets exert quite a pull and can hurt you if you're not careful.
My .02 anyway,
Chuck