Key Fabrication
Bassoon key
This is a key off of a Fox Bassoon. The hinge tube is ruined- it is bowed, and there is something stuck in it. It looks as if someone previously tried to drill it out, but instead drilled through the wall of the tube. I am going to unsolder the three pieces (the key cup, the lever, and the spring hook) and then solder them on to a new tube. If all goes well, I will not have to then have the key stripped and re-platted. I really hope all goes well…..
A hinge tube is the part of a key that a rod goes through so that the key can move up and down. Just like a door hinge. There are two ways that a key is held on, either with a rod that goes all the way through the hinge tube, or with a pivot screw (or pin, in a few obscure examples) that holds the key on either side. A good example of the same mechanism using both systems, in this case a low C/Eb mechanism, are a Bundy II saxophone and a Selmer Paris saxophone. The Bundy II used a hinge rod, which supports both keys. The Selmer Paris uses four separate pivot screws to accomplish the same.
Inhorn Band Instrument Repair 