Hey folks,

Anybody know a cheap and easy way to get lacquer off a horn? I've heard of leting it soak in really hot water for a while. I've also heard of some kind of spray that removes Lacquer off other things (furnature). Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks. Happy 4th!

Here is just one of the threads that deals with this issue:http://www.trumpetmaster.com/vb/f131...vel-19946.html (Laquer Removel). Go to "Search" and type in "lacquer" "remove" and such to find more. Have fun!

Here's a partial repeat of a post I made a few weeks ago:

I bought a Conn Victor cornet on eBay week before last. It looked terrible in the pics, and I won it for $29. It arrived a few days ago and it did look bad - but it was all there, and the valves are in really good condition. I unstuck the mouthpiece, cleaned and oiled the valves, and played it a little (with my mouthpiece, of course). It played nice, even though I'm sure it's filthy inside and the valves are out of alignment. It has a patch on the leadpipe, though, and the engraving on the bell has been buffed waaaay too much during a previous repair.

Now, here are some before and after shots I took this morning. I removed what was left of the lacquer with Krylon OFF! paint remover, and polished it (for hours) two nights ago with MAAS metal polish. I took it to brass band practice last night and played it on a couple of songs to get a feel for tone and intonation issues, and let me say, this is a VERY good-playing cornet, even with the valves not aligned. I just dropped it off at the local instrument repair wizards, Southeastern Musical Services, for new corks and felts and a valve alignment, and to get a couple of slides unstuck. The only thing that would keep me from doing a complete restoration on it (assuming I still like it after a few months) is the over-buffed bell and patched leadpipe. These two things don't seem to affect the play of the horn, but do affect the collectability and value, so I'll probably just keep it as a player. FYI, it's a 1963 Conn 5A Victor cornet, .485 bore - a pro horn in its day, and fairly rare today.

Before







After

Thanks Guys!

Originally Posted by Dale Proctor

Now, here are some before and after shots I took this morning. I removed what was left of the lacquer with Krylon OFF! paint remover, and polished it (for hours) two nights ago with MAAS metal polish.

Wait, so your horn looked like this AFTER you stripped the lacquer off?! what'd you do afterwards, just wax it to keep the shine?

Lacquer is just a clear coating that preserves the finish underneath. Before a manufacturer or repair tech lacquers a horn they buff it up as shiny as they get it and they degrease it. Then they lacquer it. Some lacquers are darker than the shine of the instrument so it changes the colour a bit, but in general, lacquer is pretty much clear.
To keep the finish on an unlacquered horn you have to polish it with a soft cloth to get any fingerprints and oils off of the brass. The shine will naturally fade after a while.

Originally Posted by edcon1981

Wait, so your horn looked like this AFTER you stripped the lacquer off?! what'd you do afterwards, just wax it to keep the shine?

Nice job Dale! Edcon, you will notice he used MAAS metal polish. The best, I think. I have used it on 3 of my horns and some silverware and it really shines brilliantly and holds the shine for along time. Sure, some maintenance is inevitable on raw brass horns.

huh? then i must have the wrong impression. that means that the actual finish / color of the horn is simply the true color of the metal it's made out of? i actually thought lacquer was something akin to chrome plating... no?

lemme ask you this then... i'm in the process of having a 52 olds ambassador refurbished, and it looks like the typical dark tarnish that any olds develops. if i strip the lacquer off and polish the $hit out of it, it'll look a far sight better than this?

Maas is the best! This is a raw brass horn after the Maas treatment. Don't think you can get this in 1/2 hour. Plan on 2-3 hours to do it right.

so a horn as tarnished as the olds i'm getting can come up that clean with the maas treatment? how hard is it to maintain that luster afterwards... just keep on polishing it, or would i do well to re-lacquer it?