Brushed Finish on Unlacquered Saxophones

[MartinMods]

My conclusion is that if the product works this well in such an extreme environment, it should do a credible job inhibiting the tarnishing of the brass over a long period of time under normal conditions. It is likely that a 2nd coat would have done even better.

Interesting. A thought: As you, yourself stated earlier, "Further research has shown that it is the sulphur compounds in the air that tarnish the brass the same as silver.", perhaps it would make more sense to test the solution using liver of sulphur.

Further, if the solution does protect the finish as claimed, and many other substances do (e.g., wax), the question is then, how long will it stay on the surface of the metal, subject to normal handling?

 

[steen]

...The key was not buffed or polished, just rubbed with the grey scotch brite synthetic steel wool pad shown below. That does remove a miniscule amount of brass, but probably much less than buffing would remove.

I have had good use of these as well. I just wish they would make a 0000 like they do for regular steel wool. The 000 is bit overkill for some applications.

I also used scotch-brite to similar effect a few years ago on some stripped relacquers and recently was shown a photo of how they look after a few years of use:
...
Pretty much the same, just darker! I like the brushed bare brass finish.

I am a bit surprised that there are no spots and no reddish hue, the latter in particular since they are Bueschers. I like my bare brass horns, but find it difficult to avoid some spotting even with meticulous use of swaps, filter paper, etc. Did you do anything special after the stripping and brushing?

I have done a quick test to check the effectiveness of the MASS product. Shown below are 3 photos. The first is the untreated key. The second shows the key after the right side has been coated with the MASS Metal Protector. The last photo shows the key after it was moistened by dipping it into a cup of water with 2 teaspoons of salt dissolved in it and then suspended above 1" of straight ammonia in a closed bucket for about 45 minutes. As you can see the treated side fared much better in this "rushed" brass oxidation. It didn't take long for the salt water combined with the ammonia to oxidize the brass.

...

My conclusion is that if the product works this well in such an extreme environment, it should do a credible job inhibiting the tarnishing of the brass over a long period of time under normal conditions. It is likely that a 2nd coat would have done even better.

Interesting. Does it impact pads etc? I.e. can it be used for an assembled sax without detriment?

 

[jbtsax]

Interesting. Does it impact pads etc? I.e. can it be used for an assembled sax without detriment?

It would be difficult to apply to the body with the keys and springs still on the sax. It is however possible to apply the MAAS carefully to keys with pads in the key cups to avoid contact with the leather. This is what I had to do on the tenor I was working on since I discovered the MAAS product after the pads had been installed.