Why does flux turn pink?

E
Elow
Posts: 1924
Joined: Mar 02, 2020

by Elow »

I just put this all together and most of the flux turned pink when evaporated. It also smelled like chlorine. Is this safe to inhale? What’s the best way to clean this? I would imagine buffing would do the trick but it’s kind of hard to do that here and i have bad memories of trying to buff small and tight bends.
B
bbocaner
Posts: 315
Joined: Mar 26, 2018

by bbocaner »

it's not the flux that turns pink, the flux turns the surface of the brass pink, it's acid - it dissolves the zinc out of the brass, the same way red rot does. and the heat from your torch accelerates the process. it's just on the surface and should buff off. In the tight areas you might need to rag it rather than using a wheel.
L
LeTromboniste
Posts: 1634
Joined: Apr 11, 2018

by LeTromboniste »

Try wrapping a long but thin piece of sandpaper or a long thin strip of leather with buffing compound around the tubing in the tight spots (wrap half a turn or one turn), holding both ends in tension and pulling them back and forth.
C
Crazy4Tbone86
Posts: 1654
Joined: Jan 14, 2020

by Crazy4Tbone86 »

I’m just trying to figure out how Elow is doing the assembly of that F attachment. I was taught to start at the bell stem and assemble the bell section backwards (bell side outside tuning slide receiver, tuning slide assembly, gooseneck, slide receiver and then bell brace). Only then do you start the assembly of the F attachment section. I worry the Elow is going to need to rebuild it again and will need to buy new parts. Just a concerned citizen.
E
Elow
Posts: 1924
Joined: Mar 02, 2020

by Elow »

[quote="Crazy4Tbone86"]I’m just trying to figure out how Elow is doing the assembly of that F attachment. I was taught to start at the bell stem and assemble the bell section backwards (bell side outside tuning slide receiver, tuning slide assembly, gooseneck, slide receiver and then bell brace). Only then do you start the assembly of the F attachment section. I worry the Elow is going to need to rebuild it again and will need to buy new parts. Just a concerned citizen.[/quote]

Hopefully not, i soldered the bell to the bell brave and slide receiver and just put the valve on that to make sure everything fit.
C
Crazy4Tbone86
Posts: 1654
Joined: Jan 14, 2020

by Crazy4Tbone86 »

That’s good.....I hope your project turns out well!
E
elmsandr
Posts: 1373
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by elmsandr »

[quote="Crazy4Tbone86"]I’m just trying to figure out how Elow is doing the assembly of that F attachment. I was taught to start at the bell stem and assemble the bell section backwards (bell side outside tuning slide receiver, tuning slide assembly, gooseneck, slide receiver and then bell brace). Only then do you start the assembly of the F attachment section. I worry the Elow is going to need to rebuild it again and will need to buy new parts. Just a concerned citizen.[/quote]

Huh.

Being that all my works are on a modular setup, I do not do it that way. I do the attachments alone on the bench and then fit the braces to the existing tuning slide and bell. I see no reason why any new parts would be needed here.

Looks like a great start. You’ll probably decide that there are a dozen things you want different. That’s OK, that is why your 10th section will look better than your first. I just saw my first vale section for sale again in the world and one ferrule still bothers me. But I haven’t made that mistake again.

Cheers,

Andy
E
Elow
Posts: 1924
Joined: Mar 02, 2020

by Elow »

After looking in the shop for an 1 hour, i found the tools i needed at someone’s desk. They were my tools that i bought with my name on them... i don’t understand how adults with responsibilities don’t have the brain capacity to put tools that aren’t their’s back where they found them. Anyways, buffing compound on a wick works great and i am almost finished with the project.
C
Crazy4Tbone86
Posts: 1654
Joined: Jan 14, 2020

by Crazy4Tbone86 »

Yes, hand wicking is great way to buff a horn. I know a tech who never uses a buffing wheel because he does not want to remove any more metal than necessary. He hand wicks everything. It is very time consuming, but it does retain more of the metal.
E
elmsandr
Posts: 1373
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by elmsandr »

Looks good!

What are you planning on mounting this to?

Andy
A
Amconk
Posts: 279
Joined: Jun 14, 2018

by Amconk »

Looks great! Can’t wait to see more pics of the project.