About Our Services
 

With over thirty-five years of experience in the band instrument repair industry, Daniel Oberloh's expertise is supplemented with a background that includes machining and electroplating (both decorative and structural copper and nickel). His depth of knowledge and experience offers unparalleled opportunities for valve repairs that few instrument repair shops can offer. All of our valve repair services are performed here in our Seattle facilities. Capabilities also include machining custom tooling, arbors and electroplating fixtures as needed. Our valve repair services range from the simplest and most basic to remanufacturing complete piston assemblies, caps, stems and buttons.

Plating

Our structural plating services are performed by Mike Wheeler at Electrofinishing in Kent Washington, under the personal supervision and oversight of Daniel Oberloh.

Precision Honing and Sizing
  The critical matter of piston and valve cylinder honing and sizing is performed personally by Daniel Oberloh, with the highest standards of precision workmanship on only the very best equipment. All of our piston-valve and cylinder honing is performed with machines, tooling and supplies, provided by Sunnen Products Corp. In addition to our private customers, we gladly provide support services to our repair industry colleagues and commercial music companies throughout North America, Europe, the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia. If your shop is interested in our services, please feel free to contact us for detais.

With the use of a bore-gage, we are able to confirm that a honed valve cylinder is straight and round.

The Process
 

Piston Valve Rebuilding (aka "valve-job")

Over time, it is not uncommon for piston valves to become worn to a point that the instrument no longer functions optimally. The rebuilding of piston valves is a precision process where the worn valve cylinders are restored straight and round. The pistons are repaired as needed and oversized through the electroplating application of copper and nickel. The plated materials are precision honed to the exact desired dimensions prescribed for their respective cylinders, ultimately returning it to a state of playability that can often exceed that of a new instrument. The tolerance of a properly rebuilt trumpet valve is approximately .0005" (one half of one thousandth of an inch). Larger piston tolerances are slightly more due to the added surface area. Once the valve and cylinders are fit correctly, they are hand lapped to the proper feel and function. Finally, the instrument is thoroughly cleaned and the ports are aligned with new materials. The springs are adjusted or replaced if found to be substandard.

External honing pistons, straight and round.

The Tooling
  The honing process is performed with the use of precision machine tooling. We use Sunnen equipment exclusively for all of our precision honing. Most replacement components, in addition to all special fixtures and custom tooling, are made to order in house.

Other valve repair services

In addition to our valve rebuilding, we offer an array of additional valve repair services.