Slide Lubrication
Ed Dumas
A concept that is usually taught in auto mechanics or metal shop is when there is
metal rubbing on metal, there must be some kind of lubrication product to keep
the two metals functioning properly. Failure to lubricate metal moving on metal
can result in excessive friction which creates wear during movement. At times
when the metals are not moving, they can become fused if there is no lubrication
between them. The same principles apply to musical instruments made of metal.
There are several types of lubrication needed for brass instruments including
oiling valves and greasing slides. The article “Why Do Trumpet Valves Jam?”
contains a good description of how to properly oil piston valves. Note that old oil
needs to be removed before applying fresh valve oil, and there are some specifics
there worth reviewing if you have not seen the article.
There are two kinds of slides on brass instruments that require lubrication that I
will mention here. The first type is the “slow slide” such as tuning slides and valve
slides on trumpet, euphoniums, tubas and so on. The second type is the “fast
slides” such as the trombone main slide, but also includes the trumpet third valve
trigger slide and a few others. These two types of slides need completely different
approaches, but both need some player consistency to work properly.
Let’s deal first with the “slow slides” such as tuning slides and valve slides of brass
instruments. These slides need to have “Tuning Slide Grease” applied infrequently
to keep them moving. The feel of how these slides should move is that of a slow
steady movement somewhat regardless of how much pressure is applied. The
speed of this slide is somewhat unimportant, but should just be consistent, even if
you push on it harder. There should not be changes in the speed of the slide as it
moves, nor should it require great effort to move.
The classic telltale sign that it is time to re-apply some grease is when you push or
pull and the slide does not move. You decide to push a little more and then a little
more. All of sudden the slide “pops” and moves a dramatic distance and then
seems to get lodged in again. This is a warning sign that students need to be
aware of. Not putting on some fresh grease ASAP will mean that very soon the
slide will refuse to move and now the instrument must go into a repairman to get professional help. Do yourself and your students a favour and educate your
students about this warning sign, as it will save you and them some money and
anguish later.
Just as with oiling the valves in a brass instrument, adding new grease should not
be done until the old grease is removed, at least as much as possible. When
students remove a slow slide from an instrument, there are two surfaces to
consider. These are the outer surface of the inner tube and the inner surface of
the outer tube. These two surfaces rub together, and this is where the grease is
applied. At the least, students can use a rag to wipe off the old grease which will
be on the outer surface of the inner tube.
As I mentioned in the blog posting “Why Trumpet Valves Jam,” this rag should not
be the one that is shipped with the instrument from the factory. This factory “rag”
is usually a buffing cloth used for removing the fingerprints from the outer finish
of brass instruments. Students should find a rag just for oil and grease purposes,
and it should be made of non-stretchy cotton, such as a piece of old bed sheet or
the back of an old men’s cotton dress shirt. Use this rag to wipe off any old grease
from the slides.
When adding grease, students should use a finger to spread the grease around
the surface of the slide as evenly as possible. Then insert the tubes of the slide
one at a time, the top tube first, then the bottom tube. With only one tube
inserted move the slide in and out several times while rotating the slide back and
forth as much as possible. This will help spread the grease to all areas of the
slides’ metal surfaces. Do this for each pair of inner & outer tubes, one at a time
before inserting both tubes into the required position. After the slide is put back
into position, the last step is to wipe away any excess grease left on the exposed
parts of the slide to keep the horn neat and clean.
As an aside, I learned a trick from my post-secondary trumpet teacher of using a
pencil mark on my trumpet tuning slide. Once my trumpet was placed “in tune” as
close as it could be with a tuner or with the band, take a pencil and place a line on
the inner tube of the tuning slide to indicate where this slide should be placed
next time it is moved. This is valuable if you use a mute which often sharpens the
pitches, and therefore you must pull out to compensate for the mute. But, once the passage is complete and the mute comes back out, you will now know exactly
where to move the slide back to with no hesitation.
Doing this little pencil mark trick is also very helpful for trumpets where the case
demands that the slide be fully pushed in to fit into the case. The reason that
instrument makers sometimes make this demand is to force the trumpet player to
move the slide each time the horn is played. This reduces the chances that the
slide becomes permanently seized and therefore needs professional help. That is
the old “Use it or lose it” axiom once again!
In the next rehearsal, if the situation changes, the pencil mark can be easily
removed with a rag, and redrawn for the new correct tuning placement. If you
teach this system to your students, remind them that this pencil mark is NOT
“written in stone.” Rather, it is “A place to start.” This pencil mark trick is very
useful for other brass instruments, flutes and especially saxes on the neck cork as
well!
The other option that students can do when lubricating their slides is to bathe the
instrument completely before applying new grease. This will help remove the old
grease from the inside of the outer sleeve which is not done in the above
procedure. If students are very young, it might be better to leave the bathing to a
repairman, though older students can complete this task on their own. There are
numerous excellent videos on YouTube regarding bathing brass instruments, but I
suggest you preview them first to make sure the procedures are safe for students.
The fast (right-hand) slide on the trombone, though, is a different problem that
does not require grease but rather an oil-based product. Using grease on this
product will make the slide far too slow to be playable. Here the objective is to
make the slide completely free of friction as much as possible, rather than making
even, steady friction using grease.
There are many different products available that students can use on the
trombone main slide. Young students will probably want to use something simple,
such as basic slide oil. The one that I often recommend is UltraPure Trombone
Slide Oil, as it is a superior synthetic oil with few challenges in use.
The one thing that many students seem to forget, though, about oiling their
trombone slide is that they should remove the old oil first. As a general rule in all band instruments, wipe off old, then apply new. When troubles arise later, it is
often because students have either not wiped off old slide oil, or they have never
bothered to lubricate their slide at all!
To wipe off the old oil, students should carefully separate the inner and outer
sleeves of the trombone slide. Use the cotton rag again to wipe both arms of the
inner slide several times each. Be very careful not to bend or dent the inner
sleeves, as this will certainly then need to go to a repairman. Older students can
also wipe off the old oil from the inner surface of the outer sleeves by using a
trombone slide reamer and a small piece of rag pulled through the eyelet. Push
this reamer in and out several times in each outer sleeve to remove all of the old
oil.
When applying the new oil, apply a few drops to each of the “socks” on the inner
sleeves. The socks are the end parts of the slide (about 6”) that are very slightly
thicker than the rest of the sleeves. These are the parts that contact the inner
surfaces enough to keep the distances correct and the slide moving properly. This
is where the oil is needed most.
Use the oil bottle dropper to contact the sock directly. Dropping the oil onto the
sock will cause the oil to splash onto clothing which will likely stain permanently.
Once both socks are covered well in oil, insert the end of each sleeve into its
corresponding outer sleeve one at a time. Move the two parts in and out a few
times while rotating the sleeve to spread the oil around. Do this with each tube
set before finally putting the slide together ready to play. The slide now should be
very quick so that if the student accidentally lets go of the slide, the outer slide
will drop to the floor on its own. Note – Use the trombone slide lock when not
playing to stop the slide from falling off and getting damaged!
I am always amazed at how many first-year trombone players do not oil their
slides daily. Failure to do this simple task dooms more trombone players than just
about any other reason. In a beginning band class, check this each day for the first
month or two. Have the trombone players hold up their horn and let the slide fall
to their right hand (not come off the inner sleeves, just drop a foot or so on its
own). If the slide will not do this freely on its own, make the trombone player
spend some time dealing with this. No sense trying to play when the horn cannot do it! Once the trombone players are in the habit of oiling the slide daily, they will
learn SO much better.
Now wiping the oil off the trombone does take a bit longer so players are often
reluctant to do it, especially in shorter classes. The players, though, need to
understand that if they never wipe off the slide, it will eventually become
unplayable. The oil will continue to dry and build up in place so that eventually
the slide will move only with such resistance that the players cannot possibly keep
up with the band.
If the slide moves so slowly that the player cannot keep up with the band, the
player will surely get frustrated and think about quitting! Few players will
recognize that the problem is with them because “the trombone doesn’t work.”
Teachers, in the beginning, need to keep on top of the trombonists until they
develop the habit of considering the slide condition EACH TIME THEY PICK UP THE
HORN. Later you can probably check this less frequently.
Here is a schedule that I would recommend for your young trombone players to
help with shorter classes and the time it takes to lubricate the slides. In the
beginning, the trombone players can apply oil each day without wiping down the
slide. Then, instruct them to take the time to wipe the slide’s inner sleeve on the
weekend before applying fresh oil. You could check in class once or twice ahead
of time that they know how to do this before you assign them to do it at home
consistently.
After a month or so of slow practice wiping the inner sleeve weekly at home, have
them wipe it in class for you once per week from now on. By now they will have
developed the routine and some speed on the task that they should be able to do
it weekly in class. Soon after you could have the trombone players wipe the inner
sleeve whenever they feel that the slide is getting “gummed up” with too much
oil. This could be more than just weekly. Older students, maybe in the second
year, could then start using the slide reamer to clean the inner surface of the
outer sleeve as well. This too could be done less frequently than daily, maybe
weekly or monthly. Remind students that are learning how to use the slide reamer
to flip the rag over the tip of the reamer to stop the metal end from scraping the
inside of the slide.
Now older trombone players that are used to putting oil on their slides daily may
want to go a step further or more. One of my favourite products is called “Slide-O-
Mix” which substantially drops the resistance on the slide as compared to slide
oil. “Slide-O-Mix Classic” has two bottles of product. One product is applied to the
socks, and the other is applied to the upper parts of the slide. Then water from a
spray bottle is misted on the upper inner sleeves. The reaction between the two
different products and the water on the slide creates a lack of resistance that is
unsurpassed and just a pleasure in playing.
Many players, though, are reluctant to use this system due to the additional effort
required in maintenance. The slides will need to be wiped out frequently
including the outer slide with a reamer. The payoff is huge, though, so many
experienced players appreciate the option if it is provided.
There is one final option for students as well. Slide-O-Mix has developed a similar
system called “Slide-O-Mix All In One” that combines the two bottles into one
product that is used on both parts of the slide, the socks and the upper part of the
inner sleeve. Water misting from a spray bottle is still used on the inner sleeve as
well. This system might be a good start for students that are no longer beginners
but not yet experienced enough to use the Classic system.
At the beginning of this article, I mentioned that the “fast slides” are found on
other instruments besides the trombone. Trumpets have a much smaller fast slide
on the third valve which must be pushed out substantially to put some notes into
tune. But, this third trigger slide cannot stay out, as it will affect other notes that
it should not. Hence the slide must be able to move quickly, like a trombone slide.
Flugelhorns sometimes contain these fast slides for the same purpose, and I even
know a pro tuba player who has added a fast trigger slide to his instrument! All of
these “fast slides” will need some product to keep them functioning at their best.
On student model horns, these “fast slides” (triggers) are often not very fast,
regardless of the product used on them. Sometimes repairmen can speed these
up with some time spent on them. But even just plenty of use is often enough to
speed up a fast slide which is not well enough from the factory. That is assuming,
of course, that the student has been adding the correct lubrication product to this
trigger slide!
If after using the correct lubrication on the third trigger slide of a trumpet and the
student still finds that the trigger is not moving fast enough to be useable, here
are some suggestions to help rectify that situation. First, wipe off any old
lubrication product and apply fresh product to the trigger to ensure that is as best
as it can be. If the slide is still slow, push and hold down the third valve to release
the airlock in the tube. Then, move the slide in and out rapidly and repeatedly
while checking if the slide is slowly improving. This process will take time more in
the range of hours rather than minutes.
Once it feels like the slide is no longer improving, wipe the old oil from both
surfaces, and reapply new once again. Check the feel of the slide once again to
see if it has improved once again. If it continues to improve, continue to rapidly
move the trigger slide in and out while holding down the third valve. Keep
repeating this process until the slide is either sufficiently fast to satisfy the player,
or the improvement has stopped. If the progress of the trigger slide has stopped
and the slide is still not sufficiently fast, the instrument will need to go into a
repairman for further progress. Usually, I have found that most student model
slides move fast enough for the student once they have run this procedure for a
night or two to speed up the trigger.
Students who are interested in improving the speed of their fast slides, or even
just in keeping the slow slides serviced well are encouraged to seek out
information. There are plenty of sources now across the internet which can
provide how-to’s on using these many products. Tapestry Music is a good source,
and I am sure that any one of the reps would help you or your students with
questions. Tapestry Music also offers private teachers for those that want more
direct help.
As in just about everything in music, doing nothing is not a good option.
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