mineral deposits on inner slide

[Shumanbean]

I found a bargain on a King 606 at Goodwill that I'd like to pass along to some student who needs it.
It's a late 70's with lacquer that looks pristine. Plays great for a student horn. Slide is like new, except for some sort of calcium or lime deposits on the slide, I think from cold cream on the slide. I soaked it and tried to take it off with my fingernail. I'm wary of any kind of scotch-brite pad. It's small amount, but enough to make it sound and feel a bit gritty.

Is this something I can remedy with some kind of cleaner...say CLR, without harming the slide?

Thanks

[harrisonreed]

If it's chrome, chrome is extremely hard. Some light scrubbing with a kitchen sponge or non-metal scotch pad won't hurt it.

I remember someone in the forum was unable to even saw through MK drawing slide tubes, they were so hard.

[Shumanbean]

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

[CalgaryTbone]

I have a colleague that occasionally uses a small amount of CLR when he cleans his slide, and has never had an issue. If you do try it, make sure that you follow it up with some mild dish soap and a lot of rinsing. I don't think CLR would damage the chrome, but I wouldn't want to be breathing it in while playing the horn.

Jim Scott

[bbocaner]

CLR says on it not to use on brass. Might be ok on the chrome but but I’d worry about it making it to brass pieces. I’d soak paper towels in distilled vinegar and wrap them around the slide inners. Leave them for half an hour and then scrub.

[CalgaryTbone]

CLR says on it not to use on brass. Might be ok on the chrome but but I’d worry about it making it to brass pieces. I’d soak paper towels in distilled vinegar and wrap them around the slide inners. Leave them for half an hour and then scrub.

That sounds like a good plan! I think it's always good to try natural products first.

JS

[Doug Elliott]

Ultra-fine scotchbright, the soft gray one, is safe on slide chrome, and that's readily available.

[ithinknot]

If there's hard-to-move crud visible on the outside of the inner slide, that's only the visible half of the problem - there's going to be hard-to-move crud on the inside of the outer slide too.

Find a corner of the shower where you can safely stand the slide vertically. Fill the outer with white vinegar, put the inner slide in, leave standing for 15 mins or so. Rinse off the outside - the vinegar isn't going to harm 70s King lacquer in that time, but you might not want it all over your shower tray and fittings.

Scrub out with a snake brush and some dish soap. Ultra-fine scotchbright on the chrome is fine, though you might not even need it after the soak.

Rinse, remembering to turn the inner slide upside down and really flood the cork barrels just to get the vinegar smell out of the corks/felts.

[harrisonreed]

Great slide works ... Umm... Great! For the inside of the outer side

[stewbones43]

It could be dried-on slide lube. I used to get it on trombones I had not used for a month or so. It was when I was using the original 2-bottle "Slide-o-mix" with the red bottle tops.
I used the ultra fine scotchbrite on the inners and the inside of the outers. Tear some off and thread it through the eyelet on the end of a cleaning rod, then wrap it round the eyelet. You need to use enough to make a tightish plug then push it up and down the full length of the outer slide, rotating it as you do so. If you should happen to lose the scotchbrite in the slide it will come out by using a garden hose water jet at full power (normal water pressure NOT a pressure washer!) This should be done outside and remember, it is a "U" shaped tube. What goes away from you will come back!!!

Cheers

Stewabones43

[Posaunus]

Ultra-fine scotchbright, the soft gray one, is safe on slide chrome, and that's readily available.

Is this the product you recommend?
Scotch-Brite™ 7448 Pro Sheet:
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b400712 ... 06+5582278

[ithinknot]

Scotch-Brite™ 7448 Pro Sheet:
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b400712 ... 06+5582278

FWIW there's a white one that's even finer than this.

Or Mirka Mirlon - I use the gray ('ultra fine' - they say it's around 1500 grit, and it's certainly pretty gentle) for paint/lacquer work on wood all the time. There's supposedly a brown 'micro fine' grade beyond that, but it's never available anywhere.

[Doug Elliott]

Yes 7448 (ultra fine) is it, for the inner slide chrome.
I sometimes use 7447 (very fine) for the outer slide, on a cleaning rod, with soapy water. It breaks through corrosion.

There is also a "super fine" grade between them but it's not available in pads.

[Posaunus]

Yes 7448 (ultra fine) is it, for the inner slide chrome.
I sometimes use 7447 (very fine) for the outer slide, on a cleaning rod, with soapy water. It breaks through corrosion.

There is also a "super fine" grade between them but it's not available in pads.

Thanks to Doug, ithinknot, and stewbones43 for this information.

All my slides - though mostly rather old - are in great shape, as far as I know (super-smooth 10/10 action; very shiny inners, inside and out; and next-to-no discoloring on the swabs that I use to clean outer slides) - but I may try a gentle swab with a bit of Scotch-Brite 7448 threaded through the end of a cleaning rod as Stewbones suggests, to see if there's any invisible corrosion or deposits in the outer slides.