oldlou

I have often read on the forums that instrument valves are never to be rotated in their casing in the process of oiling them. I just went through my entire 'accumilation' of trumpets and cornets, all 57 of them, cleaning and oiling the valves. On none of them did I find any radial scoring, even when examined under a bright light and using a magnifying glass. I KNOW that upon each oiling since my ownership, the valves WERE rotated to evenly spread the oil upon the entire surface of the valves and casings. If the practice of never rotating he valves for fear of scoring them was a valid reason for not doing so, my horns would be a showcase demonstration for not doing so. I have found the reverse to be true. My valves show no such damage. In addition, how is one to find the exact point in the rotation of the valves where the index key will align with the casing slot without at least some rotation being used?


On this safari through all of my horns I cleaned the valves and casings with a bit of Zippo lighter fluid,( naptha ),on a section of Bold brand paper toweling, to cut the old oil and totally clean the attendant surfaces. I have tried lesser quality brown paper shop towels and had a good bit of valve stickyness from residual paper lint from the poor quality recycled paper fiber.


OLDLOU>>

Dale Proctor

I've heard that same thing, but I'm a valve rotater, too. It may be harmful if you have old valves that are worn to the point they're not round any more, but I can't imagine it harming a valve that's in good shape.

You're right - those brown towels (and cheaper white ones) will leave a lot of paper fibers on anything you use them on. Using them is a good way to have to immediately clean your valves again. I use old cotton baby diapers for horn cleaning.

Firestas'1

I agree with the practice of rotating the valve to distribute the oil evenly. I have done this on all of my horns for the last 30 years and have never had any issues.

Cotton cloths are the way to go for cleaning either diapers or good quality shop towels (not terry).

brem

I never rotate valves and the oil eventually distributes evenly... :P

oldlou

The term "eventually" is what sent me on this valve cleaning,inspection and relube safari. I have seen far too many valves being brought in to Grand Rapids Musical Instrument Exchange where I worked as a technician many years ago that were scored longitudinally from top to bottom in straight 'racetracks'. I am seeing the same pattern on the valves of the vintage horns that I 'accumilate'. According to old A.J.'Bill' Johnson the store owner and former owner of York Band Instruments, this was exclusively the result of dirty and unlubed valves. He advocated what I propose; clean the valves and casings, being cautious to totally degrease both, using a lint free medium and a proper degreaser. I use Zippo lighter fluid, as it stores easily and dispenses precisely, along with cleaning the contact surfaces while leaving no residue. My personal preference in valve lubes is Hetmans synthetic for healthy valves and Break Free C.L.P. from the local gun dealer for the badly worn and leaky ones.


OLDLOU>>

bigtiny

I never rotate the valves, I just drop oil at different places around the circumfrence of the valve...

bigtiny

Dave Mickley

I believe the idea of not rotating a valve was started by R. Schilke, I have always rotated my valves when oiling and have never ruined a valve yet that way. I may have messed up some valves by improper hand placement and putting a side force while pushing a valve down but that is another story. old lou explain how you lap a valve in and maybe the rotation is bad myth will go away. Dave

tedh1951

Old Lou,
I have examined mine too, after your comments - no scratches using a 16x magnifying glass (yeah! yeah! anal retentive). I wonder if it is because we are super careful about the cleanliness of the valve casings before lubrication. My valve casings are alwyas cleaned before oiling and every so often I also wipe them out with lacquer thinners on a lint free cloth - nasty stuff if not done outside, and CERTAINLY NOT on lacqered instruments. But yes, how do you align the valves correctly otherwise. My Weril Pocket Trumpet has two such locators and I often get it wrong. So even on "soft" valves I find no marks - nor on the Boosey and Hawkes Regent MkII valves manufactured in 1955.

tedh1951

Ooops - had better edit the Signature now that the NYTC NY7 has been won. There, that's better.

uapiper

Yeah, I don't agree with the no valve rotation thing. I bought a '47 Conn New York Symphony that had angry slow valves.

I used some low viscosity toothpaste and a ton of old valve oil to lap the valves. I went straight up and down using the guides and then spun them all around in a lapping frenzy.

It did correct my sluggish vlave issues and as far as I can tell there has been no damage to the valves. I use Hetmans synthetic (classic), the valves are very smooth now.

I have used a lot of smilies in this post but don't know how I feel about them.