TromboneChat

I recently bought a King 606, which had been used as decoration on a shed and got rather rusty, as it was outside for very long, though the slides remained in good condition. I want to remove the old lacquer and the rust and I am looking for a way to do this without using something like autosol, as I have already tried that, whilst making the trombone look good in the end.
Has anybody got any suggestions?

A King 606 has epoxy lacquer which is VERY difficult to remove. I've heard of success with something called Citri-Strip (a terpene formulation) but it still took a lot of time to soak. Most epoxy strippers are pretty hazardous.

Try cleaning up the grime and see how bad the lacquer coating really is. Maybe all it needs is a good cleaning.

Oven cleaner

BurgerBob did a good write up on stripping lacquer on old Kings. Here is a link to that post.

viewtopic.php?p=180258&hilit=King+607#p180258

I’ve done something similar with an older trombone and the method seemed to work well. The oven cleaner is pretty noxious stuff, so I definitely would recommend outside with proper PPE for breathing, hands, and eyes.

Burgerbob wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 5:42 pm Oven cleaner

Musta had a lag in my response!

Rust?

Posaunus wrote: Thu Sep 04, 2025 10:06 pmRust?

If it's red it can't be rust. Only ferrous (iron containing) alloys rust. If the brass has red spots this could be red rot (de-zincification) or a thin layer of oxide. Thin layers of oxide will polish off. Red rot is much more serious.

Copper and nickel alloys can corrode, mostly creating oxides or carbonates. Green copper carbonate deposits are called Verdigris, Nickel carbonate is green as well, Copper oxide is normally black.

Brass polish normally removes black and green deposits (and sometimes cellulose lacquer). It also removes some of the brass, so very frequent polishing is not recommended.

I've heard people get good mileage from citrustrip and leaving it in a hot attic. That lacquer is VERY resistant to most of the usual solvents.

Auto parts stores have a spray "aircraft paint remover" which will lower your IQ by 5 points without proper ventilation, but does a great job removing lacquer.

Aircraft stripper usually has a compound called Methylene chloride, which has a problem in rooms with poor ventilation (displaces air) and is carcinogenic to boot. Use with EXTREME caution.

BGuttman wrote: Fri Sep 05, 2025 11:52 am Aircraft stripper usually has a compound called Methylene chloride, which has a problem in rooms with poor ventilation (displaces air) and is carcinogenic to boot. Use with EXTREME caution.

It no longer contains that. Methylene chloride was banned for consumers. It also does a very poor job of removing lacquer now. Still has noxious fumes though.

Sorry to jump in here on the topic related to King 606.

My subject is about a Bach 36 Cooperation, that I bought in poor condition. I tried already oven cleaner and some other stuff, but real solution still missing. (I saw a video regarding aircraft stripper, but doesn‘t seem to be avail in germany and now I read it anyway is not that powerful anymore)

Any experience, what is the solution for it?

Easy Off oven cleaner. Have used it to strip a couple Kings. Works great.

Toto wrote: Sat Sep 06, 2025 5:31 am Sorry to jump in here on the topic related to King 606.

My subject is about a Bach 36 Cooperation, that I bought in poor condition. I tried already oven cleaner and some other stuff, but real solution still missing. (I saw a video regarding aircraft stripper, but doesn‘t seem to be avail in germany and now I read it anyway is not that powerful anymore)

Any experience, what is the solution for it?

I think methylene chloride was banned for consumers in the EU a long time ago. Sometimes you can remove Bach lacquer with very hot water. The problem is having a container big enough to hold enough water to submerge the instrument.

Briande wrote: Sun Sep 07, 2025 4:40 pm Easy Off oven cleaner. Have used it to strip a couple Kings. Works great.

It didn‘t work. Maybe I need to test a couple of brands, not just one

brassmedic wrote: Sun Sep 07, 2025 5:08 pm [quote=Toto post_id=284972 time=<a href="tel:1757158281">1757158281</a> user_id=16551]
I think methylene chloride was banned for consumers in the EU a long time ago. Sometimes you can remove Bach lacquer with very hot water. The problem is having a container big enough to hold enough water to submerge the instrument.

That might be the reason why I didn‘t find a shop, selling it here around.
I tried also hot water - but maybe i was to careful and it was not hot enough…. Will give it another try

thanks so far, Torsten

Remember, when we say hot water it's at least 80° C, possibly even boiling. Tap hot water at 50°C is not hot enough.

Reading this, for sure, when I tried, it was not hot enough. Thanks for the hint

I have had good luck with premium paint and epoxy remover. It comes in a spray can made by a company called Jasco. You can find it at Home Depot. Some of the tougher lacquers you might have to apply more than once, but it works pretty well.

Sandblasting.