Brass horn repair

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: Brass horn repair
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By don ellis on Friday, August 03, 2012 - 11:26 am:

I have a horn from a 1910 Torpedo I need to repair. It has a dent in the bottom I need to push out. Question is, do I need to do it hot or cold?
Thanks


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Friday, August 03, 2012 - 02:38 pm:

Cold.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By P. Jamison on Friday, August 03, 2012 - 07:02 pm:

You can anneal the brass you wish to form by heating it to just red hot and then letting it cool (or quench with water). This can make it softer so you can massage it back into position. If you can make a "negative" of the shape you want to end up with (out of wood, for example), it might make it easier.

Phil


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Val Soupios on Friday, August 03, 2012 - 10:49 pm:

Depending on how much you have to do to remove the dent you might need to anneal the brass more than once as it will work harden.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ken Kopsky, Lytle TX on Friday, August 03, 2012 - 11:33 pm:

Be careful heating thin brass. "Just red hot" is it. One second it will be red and the next second you'll have a hot blob on your shoe and a hole in the horn. Do NOT work the brass hot--It will crack. It's best to practice on a piece of scrap brass sheet to learn the red color and how much tapping it takes to remove dents as well as where to tap. Don't practice on your horn. :-)

Head Light Ring - Before


Head Light Ring - After


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John F. Regan on Sunday, August 05, 2012 - 12:35 pm:

I have made some new parts from brass that required some forming and it is important to anneal the part at least in the area of the dent to be removed. What I do is first make sure the tip for my torch is the type for heating things rather than welding in that it spreads the heat out since you can have heartache if you apply heat with ordinary tip and apply too much to one small spot which is rather hard to avoid doing when using standard welding or brazing tip unless you have lots of experience at it. I would not quench cool it unless you are doing some production work and need to save all the time you can since quenching involves handling a hot piece and you can burn yourself or drop the part. Just do the annealing with the part well clamped and then wait for it to cool. To get the "red" temperature correct, I get all set up with the part clamped in place but then do the actual heating in the dark by torch light. This may seem silly but you will see the brass begin to turn red way before you do any damage since it has to get very bright red in a fully lit room but in the dark you can see how red it is easily and how much area is heated. If you get the "hang" of it you can actually see the annealing take place by watching the coloring of the red pattern and see it spread out as the brass softens. You will likely get a lot of carbon on the annealed area. Take a pan and fill it with "THE WORKS" toilet bowl cleaner high enough to cover the part or allow you to dip the part in and get it covered. Once the part is fully cooled, dip the part in the pan of toilet bowl cleaner for a few seconds and then rinse it with water and dry it off. You may have to scrub a few areas to get the remnants of carbon off and for that I use scotch-brite pad before rinsing. "The Works" is in fact dilute hydrochloric acid so be careful with it when using it full strength and wear vinyl gloves and rinse things quickly and thoroughly. You may have to anneal again as others have pointed out since brass quickly work hardens during your dent removal but if you are patient you can get the dings out without cracking anything.

Those that restore brass certainly have more experience at this than I do but the dark room thing really has stopped me from ruining good parts that I have tried to anneal.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By george house on Sunday, August 05, 2012 - 08:58 pm:

Ken,
That looked like the rim from one of the two '14 headlamps you restored for me . . . . Was it??


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ken Kopsky, Lytle TX on Sunday, August 05, 2012 - 09:22 pm:

Yeah, shameless plug ain't it.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Terry Woods, Katy, Texas on Sunday, August 05, 2012 - 09:40 pm:

George, I thought that you once posted that you found a small town music instrument repair place to do your work?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Monday, August 06, 2012 - 10:25 pm:

NICE work!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By george house on Tuesday, August 07, 2012 - 02:15 pm:

You're right, Terry. I did. But I've never sent them any lamps - cowl or headlamp. I send them my horns. First the brass horn from the '14, then the brass bell from a Klaxonette, next came the brass horn and tube off the '11 Hupp and finally the brass horn and tube off the '10 Maxwell. Mr. T's Music Instrument Repair in Yorktown, TX does remarkable work.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By george house on Tuesday, August 07, 2012 - 02:17 pm:

You're right, Terry. I did. But I've never sent them any lamps - cowl or headlamp. I send them my horns. First the brass horn from the '14, then the brass bell from a Klaxonette, next came the brass horn and tube off the '11 Hupp and finally the brass horn and tube off the '10 Maxwell. Mr. T's Music Instrument Repair in Yorktown, TX does remarkable work.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Herb Iffrig on Wednesday, August 08, 2012 - 02:28 am:

I have used a long carriage bolt to push out dents in brass pieces. You can bend the head to suit what you need to get it to line up with the dent and push out on the center of the dent. Anneal the area you want to work on and use a bent to order carriage bolt and you will be amazed at the dents you can get out of a brass horn.

Herb


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