King Orange Lacquer removal

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Burgerbob
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King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Burgerbob »

I have 2 '70s King 3B/Fs and a King 607... I have a bit of an addiction. In any case, that gives me some wiggle room to mess with them. I recently bought some EZ Off Heavy Duty and some Hope's brass polish. Here's the results on my beater 3B/F (ok, all 3 are beaters. This is the most beater-y):

Image

Some spots of lacquer took some serious elbow grease to remove, some came off right away.
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SlideCrook
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by SlideCrook »

Did you only do the bell flare?
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harrisonreed
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by harrisonreed »

Looking good! I've been meaning to take the lacquer off the outside of my SS bell but the shop I asked here wouldn't do it.

Did it change how it plays?
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by jorymil »

Glad you did it outside! That stuff is _foul_. Did you notice any difference between scratches and smooth areas? That's one of the things that surprised me about de-lacquering--the contrast between the two is definitely apparent.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Burgerbob »

SlideCrook wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 7:29 pm Did you only do the bell flare?
Yes, only the bell for now.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Burgerbob »

jorymil wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 8:04 pm Glad you did it outside! That stuff is _foul_. Did you notice any difference between scratches and smooth areas? That's one of the things that surprised me about de-lacquering--the contrast between the two is definitely apparent.
Yes, there's a couple spots on the stem of the bell that are not as shiny, and won't be coaxed to shininess.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Burgerbob »

harrisonreed wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 7:30 pm

Did it change how it plays?
I'll tell you when I play it next! Today was a bit of a slow day and I'm focusing on large tenor.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by jorymil »

harrisonreed wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 7:30 pm Looking good! I've been meaning to take the lacquer off the outside of my SS bell but the shop I asked here wouldn't do it.

Did it change how it plays?
Harrison, are you hoping for a brighter sound out of your 3bss? Faster response? Just to get rid of patchy lacquer that hasn't aged well? I had an early 70s 1403sf that just instantly gave me a nicer tone; I went to a brass horn for more color and lighter weight.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Burgerbob »

King 607 today- wow. Lots of elbow grease on this one, at least an hour of polishing. This time I used EZ Off, then boiling water to strip the lacquer. Very quick and easy in that regard.

Image
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by pompatus »

Those look great, Aidan. Do you plan to just let them develop a patina?
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Burgerbob »

pompatus wrote: Mon Jun 06, 2022 6:24 pm Those look great, Aidan. Do you plan to just let them develop a patina?
That's the plan! Not going to relacquer or do anything fancy, just play 'em and they'll turn out however they do. For now they look great!
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by harrisonreed »

Burgerbob wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 9:01 pm
harrisonreed wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 7:30 pm

Did it change how it plays?
I'll tell you when I play it next! Today was a bit of a slow day and I'm focusing on large tenor.
:hi: :hi:
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Burgerbob »

harrisonreed wrote: Thu Jun 09, 2022 5:46 am

:hi: :hi:
Dunno... played exactly 1 Cimera on the 607, felt good! Still don't have time for the small horns. Lots of time coming up though.
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Dsbones
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Dsbones »

Burgerbob wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 6:28 pm I have 2 '70s King 3B/Fs and a King 607... I have a bit of an addiction. In any case, that gives me some wiggle room to mess with them. I recently bought some EZ Off Heavy Duty and some Hope's brass polish. Here's the results on my beater 3B/F (ok, all 3 are beaters. This is the most beater-y):

Image

Some spots of lacquer took some serious elbow grease to remove, some came off right away.

May I ask What Ez Off is please?
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Burgerbob »

Dsbones wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 12:02 am
Burgerbob wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 6:28 pm I have 2 '70s King 3B/Fs and a King 607... I have a bit of an addiction. In any case, that gives me some wiggle room to mess with them. I recently bought some EZ Off Heavy Duty and some Hope's brass polish. Here's the results on my beater 3B/F (ok, all 3 are beaters. This is the most beater-y):

Image

Some spots of lacquer took some serious elbow grease to remove, some came off right away.

May I ask What Ez Off is please?
An oven cleaner. I use the heavy duty strength
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Dsbones »

Burgerbob wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 12:20 am
Dsbones wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 12:02 am


May I ask What Ez Off is please?
An oven cleaner. I use the heavy duty strength
https://www.amazon.com.au/Easy-Off-Bam- ... 7717&psc=1
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Burgerbob »

That's the one! Hopefully the same formula internationally
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Dsbones
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Dsbones »

Burgerbob wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 8:02 am That's the one! Hopefully the same formula internationally


Yep. We have the same stuff here in Oz. That king lacquer is a complete pain in the butt when resoldered school instruments hey. Must admit I’ve never thought of trying oven cleaner, only used it once before in an oven😂😂. Cheers mate!!👍
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Burgerbob »

Dsbones wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 11:51 pm
Burgerbob wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 8:02 am That's the one! Hopefully the same formula internationally


Yep. We have the same stuff here in Oz. That king lacquer is a complete pain in the butt when resoldered school instruments hey. Must admit I’ve never thought of trying oven cleaner, only used it once before in an oven😂😂. Cheers mate!!👍
Best of luck!!
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by spencercarran »

I tried a similar procedure on my old Holton bass, with strangely patchy results. May take a few rounds of EZ Off, I guess. Was sorta expecting the Holton lacquer to slough off more easily than the orange King stuff.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by tbonesullivan »

I've heard that putting on Citristrip and putting the horn inside a box in the sun can conquer the King Lacquer, and is less hazardous than EZ Off.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Burgerbob »

spencercarran wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:01 pm I tried a similar procedure on my old Holton bass, with strangely patchy results. May take a few rounds of EZ Off, I guess. Was sorta expecting the Holton lacquer to slough off more easily than the orange King stuff.
Getting it off the Kings took many, many sprays and more than an hour. Some spots took probably 5 or 6 applications.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by spencercarran »

Burgerbob wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:29 pm
spencercarran wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 2:01 pm I tried a similar procedure on my old Holton bass, with strangely patchy results. May take a few rounds of EZ Off, I guess. Was sorta expecting the Holton lacquer to slough off more easily than the orange King stuff.
Getting it off the Kings took many, many sprays and more than an hour. Some spots took probably 5 or 6 applications.
Good to know. I've got it mostly cleared from the front of the bell and like the results there, so will probably go back and strip off the rest too. (Almost definitely will; the half-lacquered look is weird)
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by CalgaryTbone »

I used some stuff called Polystripa (or something very close to that). You definitely want to either use it in the open, or walk away and let it do it's work. It did work on King lacquer (and Conn and Bach) but the trick was to leave it on for a while (check the directions). It needs a good 1/2 hour or more of sitting on the horn to work.

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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by bigbandbone »

When I was running the brass repair department at Heid’s Music in Appleton WI I had a hot lye tank to strip King horns. Worked great, but very old school.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by spencercarran »

It turns out that, like ogres, the Holton lacquer has layers. Got most of it off and gonna call it good enough for now
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by ithinknot »

Burgerbob wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 6:28 pm EZ Off Heavy Duty
Thanks for the tip. Just did a very orange non-loopy Concert bell (mid-to-late 70s). Applied heavily, ran away for a half hr or so, nearly all came off in the first round. A couple of spots took a second application, not because of lacquer condition (one was pristine inner bell, the other flaky stem) but likely just early run-off based on the position I left it sitting. That's it - doing it somewhere heated to the mid-80s probably helped.

(Yeah, I did this indoors because winter - but spraying without inhaling, and then getting straight outta there. It's nastay)
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by Burgerbob »

Awesome! I need to polish mine again, getting a bit nasty.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by heinamj »

Burgerbob wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 5:11 pm Awesome! I need to polish mine again, getting a bit nasty.
If you rub a silicone cloth over the raw brass after you polish it I've heard it slows the progress of the patina.

First time I did it about 7 years ago I used a car wax and that held up pretty good too.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by BGuttman »

heinamj wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 5:56 pm
Burgerbob wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 5:11 pm Awesome! I need to polish mine again, getting a bit nasty.
If you rub a silicone cloth over the raw brass after you polish it I've heard it slows the progress of the patina.

First time I did it about 7 years ago I used a car wax and that held up pretty good too.
I used some wadding polish called Nevr-Dull. It's been around under different names for a very long time (I inherited some called "Maserati" from my father-in-law dating back to the 1940s). My friend polished up an old tuba (pre lacquer) with the stuff and it looked beautiful for a couple of years.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by ithinknot »

Renaissance Wax works for that, in as much as anything does.

I find that the main thing with unlacquered bells is to keep them wiped down and dry for the first few months. Once there's a certain level of patina on it, it ages much more gracefully. But if you stick a big greasy thumb print and some water drops on it on day 1, it's going to look like that forever. If you have a torch with a big low-temp flame, you can frisk the whole surface to accelerate past the Very Yellow and Very Shiny stage - not getting anything meaningfully hot, just letting some oxygen bump into the surface with increased enthusiasm.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by BoNeLife »

Late Response, the EPA banned all the goos paint stripper years ago, but you can still buy the Chemical from certain companies. Methylene Chloride will melt that ugly orange lacquer off in minutes.
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Re: King Orange Lacquer removal

Post by BGuttman »

BoNeLife wrote: Mon Jan 30, 2023 10:11 pm Late Response, the EPA banned all the goos paint stripper years ago, but you can still buy the Chemical from certain companies. Methylene Chloride will melt that ugly orange lacquer off in minutes.
Actually, I've tried to strip epoxies with methylene chloride for years with very mixed results. And a warning to do-it-yourselfers: methylene chloride evaporates so quickly it won't make a difference unless you put it a\in a closed container and leave it sealed. To boot, methylene chloride is a registered carcinogen.
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