But let's not get bogged down with the unfun stuff. Let's talk about this beastie here.
It's a little hard to make out over the desk and everything on it, but it's the device that is secured in the clamp.
I have absolutely no idea what this thing is called. It must have a name, but I don't know it. That piece at the far right end is a springy device that resembles plumber's arms. It conforms to the shape of the trumpet's hardest to get valve.
That's right! This is a device that is designed to remove dents from the hard-to-reach portions of brass instruments, the curves and arcs that have no good entry point with which one can insert a straight rod.
This device takes little balls called "Dent Balls" (A very inventive name) that are arranged, about a hundred of them, in sizes that increment in millimeters or their Customary counterpart. I wish I had a picture of them but I'll probably come up with one sooner or later.
The balls have a small hole threaded through them that allows one to insert them onto a steel wire, which is contained in the spool at the top left and runs through the length of the device's arm. Every time you switch balls, you must clip a little bit off before and then, once you've switched them, add a U in the wire with pliers to keep it in place. Lots of little wire clippings get everywhere, as you need to switch balls constantly to conform to the taper of the brass piping.
When the ball is secure in the tube, one takes a small metal hammer and flattens the brass so that it conforms to the ball. Thus, the dent is removed.
This is a difficult process to master and I've only successfully finished one unit even though I've been doing this for more than a day.
What fun.
This blog will most likely only keep going if I am allowed to stay. Let's hope that happens and I don't have to fall onto plan B, mostly because I'm not sure that there is a plan B.
No comments:
Post a Comment