Cleaning under cork Barrels

[tailgate]

Any safe and simple tips for cleaning up where the corks or felts fit. I think there is an accumulation of crud there which is catching the slide. Don't think there is a ding.
The crud is red and oily, so maybe combination of red rubber corks and slide cream. It isn't rust!
Will head to a tech soon (if they are open in iso??) for a clean and new felts, but want to free things up and learn some new cleaning techniques.

Thanks

[BGuttman]

You can get in there with a cotton swab. I've also used cotton pads (the 2 inch square ones) wrapped around the inner tube.

Note that a slide sticking close to 1st is often the result of a small ding near the crook which catches on the stocking.

[elmsandr]

Any safe and simple tips for cleaning up where the corks or felts fit. I think there is an accumulation of crud there which is catching the slide. Don't think there is a ding.
The crud is red and oily, so maybe combination of red rubber corks and slide cream. It isn't rust!
Will head to a tech soon (if they are open in iso??) for a clean and new felts, but want to free things up and learn some new cleaning techniques.

Thanks

I have, uh, never had to specifically clean that area on any horn I have ever had. My guess, you bent the slide lock or dinged the slide down near the crook.

Cheers,
Andy

[afugate]

You can get in there with a cotton swab. I've also used cotton pads (the 2 inch square ones) wrapped around the inner tube.

Note that a slide sticking close to 1st is often the result of a small ding near the crook which catches on the stocking.

Or a warpage/alignment issue.

--Andy in OKC

[timothy42b]

Not to derail this, but...............since you're all awake and online................

I'm using an alto pBone for most of my practice. If I put the outer slide on correctly, it is sticky. There is a drag that feels like suction or too much cold cream, that gets worse very quickly as I play. If I put the slide on upside down, spit valve the wrong way, the action is decent until it gets very wet. I had about given up on playing this beast until I discovered this.

Why would reversing the slide make such a difference?

(I had previously thought the slide was just unworkable, but suggestions from a couple of forum members worked, and it's now not bad as long as I keep it dry enough).

[timothy42b]

Oh. and the relevance of the cork barrel. The slide lock prevents the slide from going all the way in when reversed, it hits the end of the cork barrel. It's not a huge amount but a quarter inch can matter.

[Bonearzt]

Not to derail this, but...............since you're all awake and online................
I'm using an alto pBone for most of my practice. If I put the outer slide on correctly, it is sticky. There is a drag that feels like suction or too much cold cream, that gets worse very quickly as I play. If I put the slide on upside down, spit valve the wrong way, the action is decent until it gets very wet. I had about given up on playing this beast until I discovered this.
Why would reversing the slide make such a difference?
(I had previously thought the slide was just unworkable, but suggestions from a couple of forum members worked, and it's now not bad as long as I keep it dry enough).

For the slide to work better flipped tells me the tubes are warped somehow or otherwise misaligned.

But being A Pbone, no telling and probably not an easy repair.

Also for the cork barrels, I use the cork removal tool and press some cheesecloth up into the space and twist to try to get the majority of the crud out.
If it catches in 1st, it COULD be the bumper material being worn, or as mentioned, a dent or misalignment of the tubing near the crook.


Eric

[brassmedic]

The repair tool suppliers sell pipe cleaners for that purpose (which I'm sure you could purchase from lots of places). In my experience, QTips are too thick to fit in there. But I will agree with the others who said the problem is most likely at the end of the slide, not in the cork barrel.

[mbtrombone]

Any safe and simple tips for cleaning up where the corks or felts fit. I think there is an accumulation of crud there which is catching the slide. Don't think there is a ding.
The crud is red and oily, so maybe combination of red rubber corks and slide cream. It isn't rust!
Will head to a tech soon (if they are open in iso??) for a clean and new felts, but want to free things up and learn some new cleaning techniques.

Thanks

I think there might be something to the idea that the "corks" are falling apart. I went a few years of playing and noticed that I had a catch near the first position sometimes. I took it to a very competent repair tech and he cleaned and aligned and polished the inner and outers and it seemed great except he noticed the "catch" also. He ripped out the old cork/felt and just shoved some new felt up there. Problem solved. You can always take it to a tech and they should be able to do this and clean and align for a few hundred bucks and it should be like a brand new slide. Trick is finding a good tech in your area.

[Driswood]

I've used pipe cleaners since my freshman year in college - 1969. They can be had at any Walgreen's or CVS.

[bigbandbone]

Is the original poster talking about a brass instrument or a P-bone?
Here's my 2 cents after 40+ years in the repair trade.
Never let a repairman put felts in the CORK BARRELS! If your new horn comes with felts in the cork barrels have them removed and changed to properly fitted corks!
99.8% of all the sticky and stuck 1st position problems I've dealt with are felt related!
A lot of manufacturers and repair shops use felt rings because it's cheaper and easier! But they cause the problem you describe.
Forget felt and demand cork!