Cleaning primary valves

[Ron Nossaman]

>If I were up on Dante I could give you an idea of which hell I am faced
>with.
>These are the wooden ones with wooden stem located above the main valves.
>They seem to be glued together with shellac as the "glue" looks very dark.
>But shellac makes a lot of sense as they could be adjusted once installed,
>hot glue would set too fast.  However it looks like risk of destruction if
>pulled apart.  All the others work fine, only three in the middle, wouldn't
>you know.  Since the face rests down and is not exposed to air execpt when
>activated I am betting the leather is OK.  The pouches look "factory fresh",
>have been very well preserved in the mid west atmosphere.   So I am anxious
>to conserve rather than replace.

Whoops, my apologies sir, you did say "primary", didn't you. That's what I
get for trying to reply as I run out the door. 

In that case, it's a LOT easier, and Dante can go fish. Pull the primary
stack so you can separate the pouch board from the valves. Whack the
offending valve on top with a small hammer to break the hide glue (yes, it
is) and gently tap the stem on through the button with a small punch. I
know that whacking is the fun part, but try not to break too many of the
buttons, as it slows progress.  Pull out the valve, blow out the critters
and dust bunnies, replace the leather as necessary, scrape the old glue
from the stem and button top, and reassemble without any glue. Set the gap
at about 0.030", and put a dab of hide glue or Titebond on top of the
button around the stem. Repeat as necessary until all the problem valves
are done. When the glue dries, reassemble and test. 

Is that better?

Ron N