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Forum » Sax Repair » New To Repairing - Help with installing pads?


by ben.byrne87
(2 posts)
11 years ago

New To Repairing - Help with installing pads?

Hey Everyone,

I've just started training in repair at work here in Brisbane. I'm beginning to get the art of putting pads into the instrument, but I just can't seem to keep my pads in adjustment after I get them to sit in - and it's driving me crazy. I use brown shellac, and I can't really use glue here so don't tell me to swap to that, the other repairers hate glue, and after cleaning out a few saxes I don't really think I like glue either. I've managed to make sure all of my leaks seem to be at the front of the tone hole - better than the back right? The guys training me will now allow any leaks, and I really think it's the right attitude, but they are extremely cryptic about everything. Is it really all about Wax on and Wax off and then you figure it out? or is there something I am seriously missing? Does anyone have any good reading material that they can recommend to me?

This is also really annoying when I have a pad which seems perfect even after a night long clamp, and then a day later I find a leak there.

HEEELP! 

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  2. by saxgourmet
    (127 posts)
    11 years ago

    Re: New To Repairing - Help with installing pads?

    I'll first assume you are using quality pads.....pads with inferior felt tend to leak due to instability of the felt.....

    If you want to do a leak proof pad job:

    (1) level the tone holes perfectly
    (2) align the key cups to the tone holes
    (3) iron the pads prior to installation
    (4) use minimal shellac
    (5) be certain the pads fit the cups perfectly
    (6) install the pads perfectly level in the cups
    (7) once the pads are installed, check for leaks with the springs off....the pad MUST seal by 
         GRAVITY ALONE
    (8) adjust as necessary

     

    STEVE GOODSON
    New Orleans
    www.nationofmusic.com

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    1. by Saxquest
      (420 posts)
      11 years ago

      Re: New To Repairing - Help with installing pads?

      Follow Steve's advise here. Its what separates the men from the boys (so to speak). The Gravity alone seal test is the ultimate judge of you're pad job. Its got to hit side-to-side and back-to-front precisely at the same time. This is crucial, but its only one aspect to making a sax have a great positive feel. 

      For most overhauls, the most time consuming part of a great overhaul is the key fitting. Figure out key fitting and pad-to-hole hole relationship and you're 90% of the way there.

      These are things that your average Joe simply doesn't have the patience for. It takes a certain mind set and an unrelenting quest for perfection or perhaps more of an inability to quit until its right kind of mentality (dare I say OCD) in order to really get a pad job right.

      Cheers,
           Mark Overton
           www.saxquest.com

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      1. by ben.byrne87
        (2 posts)
        11 years ago

        Re: New To Repairing - Help with installing pads?

        Thanks for the help. I think I have to work more on using less shellac. The first horn I attempted I think I was using too little, or well too little in the right places. I think I should spend more time fitting the keys and dry fitting pads. 

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        1. by Saxquest
          (420 posts)
          11 years ago

          Re: New To Repairing - Help with installing pads?

          Learning good repair is definitely a process. You try this and that until you get a good feel for it. There's no short cuts and you learn from your mistakes. Best of Luck!!

          Cheers,
               Mark Overton
               www.saxquest.com

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        2. by saxgourmet
          (127 posts)
          11 years ago

          Re: New To Repairing - Help with installing pads?

          You're so right, Mark......learning repair is like learning to play: you have to practice, and then practice some more.......

          STEVE GOODSON
          New Orleans
          www.nationofmusic.com

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