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I am always surprised when I ask a customer, “What kind of rotor oil do you use?” and the response I get is a blank stare followed by hemming and hawing. I would think that after spending thousands of dollars on an instrument that they would care what type of oil goes into it. This frustrates me.
So, I change the question and say, “OK, how many different types of lubricants do you normally use?”
I have a serious reason for rephrasing the question. I figure if the player doesn’t pay attention to the oil he or she is using, then likely that player is not lubricating the horn properly.
Fewer Than Three Lubricants Is Not Sufficient
It is rare to hear a player say they use three types of lubricants, but that is just how many you need. (Maybe four, but we’ll get to the fourth type at the end.) Far too often I find a player using only one lubricant, usually a light oil such as Al Cass Fast.
A light oil is necessary, for sure. It’s used INSIDE the valve on the rotor. The oil must be light enough to allow smooth, quick rotation of the valve rotor. But oddly enough, it is NOT really for lubrication. It serves two functions, namely to seal the gap between the rotor and casing, and to protect the metal from the acids in your breath.
The real job of lubricating the valve rotor is left to the BEARING oil, which must be heavier than the rotor oil. The bearing oil is applied to the top and bottom of the rotor, under the valve caps and in the gap between the rotor stop armature and the valve casing. The heavier bearing oil is what keeps the rotor bearings centered in the casing’s bushings. When the rotor is centered it won’t even touch the casing inside. The bearing oil one uses should be formulated specifically for rotor bearings because it has to resist the force put on it by the linkage when the valve rotation is stopped in either direction.
A properly formulated bearing oil is too heavy to use in the casings as rotor oil, and a light rotor oil is too light to use as a good bearing lubricant. So, you need two oils for your valves.
The final lubricant you must have is a slide grease. Of course, this is heavier still. It should be heavy enough to keep the slide legs centered, and easily and smoothly pulled. Slide grease should be applied sparingly to the ends of clean slide legs, all the way around just near the end, and the slide worked all the way in and then out again to get good uniform coating. The heavy grease keeps the tubes centered and sealed, and makes it easier to pull the slides without binding.
So, What About That Fourth Lubricant?
If you have ball joint linkages (many Paxmans do, for example) then you might also want to use a lubricant specially formulated for ball joint linkages. It is heavier than bearing oil, to withstand the extreme forces put on ball joints. Bearing oil will sometimes do, but it’s not as good as the real thing. Ball joint lubricant will fill the gap well and keep these mechanical linkages quiet while allowing smooth and quick operation.
More later on just how to use these lubricants effectively to reduce wear and tear, to protect the metal, and keep the horn operating smoothly and efficiently.
