Random thoughts based on this thread: I couldn't agree with Steve Mumford more. Repair techs who insist that every tube must be polished are not doing your horn a favor.
As for the grease with the 1-800-PRO-OILS phone number, PRO OILS is the brand name and the maker is Musichem. They're widely available. If you have a sticky, thick, mashmallowy white grease you are using a lithium-based grease and it will hold even the loosest, leakiest slide in place. Hetman 9 is such a grease, and I suspect this PRO OILS grease is the same. But you are only treating the symptom and not the cause. Have your slide re-fit. I think there are a few causes of leaky slides. The first is a slide that was lapped too loose or not drawn to the right tolerance in the first place during manufacture. These slides are loose from Day One. Then there are slides that are made loose by repeated sanding and polishing, and that's the repair tech's fault. There are slides that are marginally tight but get worn down over time, and these are by far the exception rather than the rule. The main cause of loose slides from use is because of pulling the slides out "off-axis" rather than straight out. The constant burnishing against a much stronger receiver tube with a rolled edge causes an ovalled condition, which over time shrinks the tubing to the point that it's loose. The best defense against this is to use the heaviest grease that will allow you to pull the slides easily, to maintain the slides so they do pull easily, and to pull them straight out. Ever see the end of a slide tube "puckered in"? That's what's happening. You see this on third slides most of the time, because of the forces these slides get subjected to based on where they are and how often they get pulled. The first slides get it less often, and you almost never see it on second slide tubes. Why? The length of the pull, the position of the slide and how it's held to be pulled, and the frequency it gets pulled. -- Regards, Dave Weiner Brass Arts Unlimited _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
