Saxophone Forum


by WishIWereHere
(8 posts)
18 years ago

de-lacquer

I have been looking at my Yamaha YAS 475 and have been thinking of what I could do to make it "just mine". I was thinking about removing the lacquer on the entire saxophone but leaving the lacquer on the keys and key guys intact. I have a very limited budget and there aren't any techs in my area that will do a lacquer removal so I was wondering if there was something I could pick up at Home Depot to remove the lacquer at home. Any advice or suggestions would be helpful...Thanks!

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  1. by Sax Mom
    (964 posts)

    18 years ago

    Re: de-lacquer

    I'm working on cleaning up a very pitted old sousaphone. On the bell, fingernail polish remover worked to take the lacquer off. On the body, it doesn't do as good a job. I'm going to try a metal stripper next. Saxophones would be much more difficult because of all the keywork. If you don't take them off, you'll be sorry. If you do, getting them all back on right, without stripping any screws, etc., might be quite difficult. I'll let you know how the stripper works.

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    1. by saxman58
      (14 posts)

      18 years ago

      Re: de-lacquer

      Go to an auto parts store (I went to O'reilly's) and pick up some aircraft stripper or something that contains methylene chloride. Be careful not to get it on your skin, because it will burn! Good luck.

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      1. by KCHORNS_REPAIR
        (11 posts)

        18 years ago

        Re: de-lacquer

        I use paint stripper:)

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      2. by chiamac
        (586 posts)

        18 years ago

        Re: de-lacquer

        "Go to an auto parts store (I went to O'reilly's) and pick up some aircraft stripper or something that contains methylene chloride. Be careful not to get it on your skin, because it will burn! Good luck." I've worked with some of this stuff before... nasty nasty stuff, but it gets the job done. To make a horn mine I would just do the bell, or even the keywork only... DON'T do what you can buy in a store. *wink* good luck!

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    2. by artsaxbob
      (2 posts)

      18 years ago

      Re: de-lacquer

      lacquer thinnier,small brush, q-tips...over and over again.

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      1. by Tbone
        (120 posts)

        18 years ago

        Re: de-lacquer

        Yamaha's are coated in an epoxy based lacquer. You could rub conventional lacquer reducer on it with your q-tips and cotton rags 'till the cows come home with no appreciable effect what so ever. commercial paint strippers are your best bet. Avoid the ones marked "non-toxic" or "environmentally safe". They don't work nearly as well. Once stripped I then dip the body in a solution of four parts water to one part Muriatic acid for about one hour. Always pour the acid into the water and never the other way around. Then I dip in a solution of one pound of baking soda to each gallon of water for one half hour. Now comes ragging and polishing!

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    3. by kelsey
      (930 posts)

      18 years ago

      Re: de-lacquer

      Make the 475 just yours by playing it a couple of hours every day. Lacquer removal will make the horn worth less. Check out the prices of original finnished horns compared to the altered ones on this site. Lacquer is there to protect the metal. I can't believe people are telling you to use paint thinner ect. unless they are just kidding......Kelsey PS I look at the date of this posting and I'm probably too late.
      Barry Kelsey

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