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Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

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Refinishing musical brass instruments

Q. I am a musical instrument repairman and I have a vintage saxophone that has a large spot of rust on the bell over the engraving. How do I remove rust from brass musical instruments without hurting the rest of the finish?

Dan Fleming
Saxophone repairman - Clear Spring, Maryland, USA
2004

Your best bet would be to have someone replate the instrument.

Jake Koch
G. J. Nikolas &Co.,Inc.

Bellwood, Illinois

2004

It is not possible to do spot brass polishing on your horn. The finish is no doubt old and any attempt at polishing will make one area look much better than the rest. The horn needs to be stripped and polished by hand or buffed on a machine.

Dean Wallace
Metal restoration - Wilmington, North Carolina
2004

Q. I just got a saxophone from a friend and it is a bit rusty... how can I take the rust off without having to re-plate it or taking it into a special person?

Lauren N.
student - Sydney, NSW, Australia
2006

Hi Lauren. Any good brand of metal polish is what you're looking for.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 2013

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