Re: Chemical Cleaning


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Posted by Lee Stofer on December 29, 2002 at 08:24:39:

In Reply to: Chemical Cleaning posted by Tim C on December 26, 2002 at 21:33:35:

Tim,
It depends upon what they do to the instrument, and what they use, as other posters have alluded to.
The only time a chem-clean would cost that much or more on an F tuba in my shop is if the instrument was put away dirty years ago, and I have to drive the valves out, pull stuck slides, remove nasty, dried-on calcification, other trash, and deal with some resulting red-rot in the valve casings and slide tubes, then fix everything to where it works and plays like new again.
I clean out the horn with a degreaser, then do a multi-stage chemical cleaning, and thoroughly wash the parts in warm, soapy water between each stage, so by the time I've finished with the instrument, the parts have been washed several times.
I lubricate the valves with the appropriate Hetman lubricant, which contains corrosion inhibitors, and lube the slides with Superlube synthetic bearing grease with Teflon. This effectively halts corrosion in an instrument.
Not all shops do this, so it is best to inquire.

Lee Stofer


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