That *OTHER* 1971 Mirafone 186 on My Bench

[the elephant]

This thread is only about the wall hanger BBb 186 I purchased for use as a parts carcass.

Like my very nice 1971 CC 186, this horn needed a lot of work to rescue it.

The CC needed mostly tons of gentle dent work and a lot of replacement bearing parts (valves and slide tubing sets). It also needed a 5th valve. Then I pimped it out with gobs of new nickel silver. It is quite a pretty sweet gadget now.

Unlike the CC, this beater BBb had a ton of bad damage to the bell and outer branches, to include many holes and cracks and a bottom bow that was pretty misshapen.

After a lot of consideration, I decided that I could probably fix all the bad stuff and rebuild it as a decent tuba. I did not *need* this tuba, and it was so inexpensive (because it was essentially trashed) that I decided to see if I could help fund my CC rebuild by fixing the old girl up and flipping her. I had no time constraints, and the budget not really an issue since most of what I needed would be cannibalized from the CC as I restored that horn.

That is correct. I ended up cannibalizing the good horn to build the junk horn.

Go figure.

After having good luck with the bell (which needed a new garland and hole and crack work) and the top bow (which needed a new guard plate and had two inch-long cracks) I decided to try to fix the junked bottom bow. Once this was done I picked through my box of old 186 valves I had from various projects (to include the four from the CC that I replaced with new ones). I ended up with a set of five that were so good (after some serious attention) that I decided to try to step up my efforts for this tuba to equal what I was doing to the CC.

AND

I decided to cut it to CC.

Just for fun.



So that is what this thread is about. People on the old TN used to get confused about which if the two horns I would be working on. Now that this horn is so far along I am giving its own, separate thread. Now, if you don't know which horn I am talking about, it is because *you* did not read the title before you clicked. HA!

Here is a photo sent to me by Tabor when I was looking at buying this box of parts.

Sexy.

[the elephant]

Now that the back story is out of the way, I have so far cut all the tubing to match my CC and spent hours re-tapering ends of each branch so they fit into the ferrules without gaps.

I have been saving all the replaced parts from the CC for use on this tuba. There has been a debate for decades as to what *exactly* differs between the BBb and CC 186 and I wanted to find out for certain by turning a BBb into a CC and seeing what did and did not work in the process. Any parts on the CC that were not going to be easy to copy for the BBb and that were sort of beat up I replaced with new, and the BBb inherited the old ones after I cleaned them up to a nearly new condition.

By doing this bit of scavenging and then cutting all the bugle branches, valve circuit runners, and inner/outer slide tube sets to the correct lengths I saved a ton of money while the CC got a major facelift.

What I have right now is an assembled set of five rotors with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd slide circuits installed. I have the top bow installed to the three inner branches, with the 5th branch "pretzel" to the main tuning slide (MTS) chopped to more closely resemble the CC part, which at first glance looks to be the same, but the BBb 5th branch is NOT USABLE on a CC. [I *think* that if I had to use a CC 5th branch to save an old BBb it could be made to work, but the reverse is not at all possible.]

I have filled about 30 holes in the bottom bow, but the metal is so embrittled that the final reshaping of the bow opened up something on the order of 25 more holes and cracks, so I have a long way to go yet on that part.

All the branch re-tapering went well, though some of it was physically very difficult to do without splitting the tube. Everything fits really well, now. The bell garland I installed looks perfect on one side but needs additional work on the other, so that will have to happen at some point.

The big thing that brought this dormant project back to the fore is that I decided to give the 5th branch narrowing and reshaping a try. I nailed it, too. I am quite pleased with myself. I'm about to enjoy a cheat on my diabetic diet in celebration.

The 5th branch of the BBb has a more natural and graceful curve as it has more space in which to live. The CC part is just tightly wound to fit in the smaller space. I chopped out about a half-inch from the middle of the branch and then made a ferrule. I measured very carefully to find a spot where the taper was less pronounced, the tube was as straight as possible, and that would allow a tube from my junk boxes to fit snugly without gaps. It happened to be just east of the brace beneath that part of the branch so that when the material was removed and the joint was soldered together it was nearly centered on the brace feet. I wanted to use brass so that you would not notice this cut so easily, but all I had was nickel silver, so now it sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb. Oh, well…

This is still very oddly shaped and will set the valve section off from where it goes by about three millimeters. However, the water key elbow from the CC that I scavenged for this horn was installed on the CC when that area was damaged; it was altered in both length and shape to fit that space. If you try to use it in a "corrected" space it no longer fits. This is why it came off the CC and was replaced with a new part. I was sure I could make it work on this horn, but, well: nope. That ain't happ'nin' baby. No way. It is now 3/8" too short to seat into the MTS outer tube correctly. Luckily, the water key elbow is a LOT less expensive than the 5th branch. One is like $15 and the other is like $70. So I get to fudge on this build to the less expensive side, thankfully.

Here are some pics of some of the BBb parts. I did a lot of cleanup today, too, as I had not removed flux that last time I was putting around with the valve section. Tonight the top bow, inner branches, and valve section look much better, and the chopped up 5th branch is clearly visible in the photos.

Here's the obligatory PornPorn…

This is the CC MTS. It will serve as my model today.


First mockup of the 5th branch to see whether my two cuts were in the ballpark…


The CC section has most of the information I need to alter the part using a little "Dremel Persuasion".


This is a press-fit mockup to set the height/angle of the crook end of the 5th branch. The BBb part is a bit flatter/less steep than the CC version. This setup mimics the CC part very well in most regards. Of course, now the water key elbow is too short. It comes too long on both ends and you have to cut it to fit, so this won't be an issue.


Another view of the cut branch and how it lines up on the brace through pure happenstance…


The assembly on the left used to be the BBb 186 pictured in the first post of this thread. Now it is a CC with some new parts and stuff from three other 186 tubas The assembly on the right is the factory CC 186. The one on the left is about six months older than the one on the right. Cool…


This is a better view of how this altered part fits within the frame of all the other altered parts. Every tube in this assembly has been shortened to raise the pitch of the tuba to play "200¢ sharp"…


Another view of the ferruled 5th branch. It is not fully cleaned up. This was the first pass to better allow my failing eyes to see what it up at every joint on the horn. It is easier for me to do this and then study the photos to really clean stuff up.

[bloke]

You're going to end up with a "hall" horn, a "home" horn, and Jinbao to offer for sale !

[the elephant]

I feel I need to better explain the need for the surgery I did to the BBb 5th branch in order to get the BBb version to be more like the CC version. They appear to be the same part at first, but upon investigation, we find that I probably need to cough up the money for a real CC 5th branch. Anyway, I am trying to see whether this build can be successful with an absolute minimum of purchased parts. If it turns out to be a player I can always replace my "chop shop" parts with actual CC parts from Miraphone. The "cool factor" of this project is to discover 1.) Will it work? and 2.) How little money is needed to do the work?

This was the main tuning slide area of the BBb as I received it (above) and how it is today (below). The 5th branch was shortened and re-angled, the water key elbow was replaced, and the slide legs are about one inch shorter.


Top Left: CC 5th branch
Top Right: BBb 5th branch
Bottom: BBb 5th branch cut to mimic the CC version

RED - These show where the 5th branch ends within the larger "window" of the 3rd branch.
GREEN: These show where I am seeing the red lines when I look at these two assemblies.
ALSO GREEN: For some reason, I used the same color to represent the inside of the 5th branch curve of the unaltered BBb 5th branch. Sorry about the color confusion; pretend it is yellow. ;-)
PURPLE: This shows the inside edge of the 5th branch curve of the CC version.
LIGHT BLUE: This shows where the crook end of the altered 5th branch now lives, which is very close to where it needs to be, perhaps close enough to allow me to retain this part.
DARK BLUE ARROW: This denotes the angle and distance the cut to the 5th branch moved the crook.

Not only did the crook move over to the left, but it came down some, too. The span between the end of the crook and the lowest place on the 5th branch is a bit closer to that of the CC, though it is not the same. This will set the entire valve section up that much higher than on a *real* CC 186. I am considering filling the tube with lead and bending the crook's span to be a bit more narrow, thereby closing that gap to match the CC part and place the valve section on the bugle correctly. I would also have to do some bending to the end where the slide tube lives. (It is not easy to bend a curve to be more open, so I am not excited about this task at all.)

If I do not crimp this crook a bit then the leadpipe will be too high and will perhaps not contact the top bow. My alternate plan is to cut out a quarter of an inch of the crook in the middle of the bend to lower it. I do not want to do this because the tight curve will require a very short ferrule. (Alternatively, I might have to silver solder the seam, which is not easy to do, at least not for me, personally.)

The bottom photo shows the altered 5th branch installed to the inner branches. The right-to-left orientation is nearly perfect. It is hard to tell this as these parts are stacked rather high, and slight differences in camera angle make them look very different. (I need to retake all these at the same time to better match the angles.)

[the elephant]

This train is chugging along nicely now. I have a LOT of work to do to the bottom bow and bell, but the valve section is nearly up to the level of the CC. I have made a mess due to high winds and gross humidity. It is taking more heat, more flux, more time to do anything with the torch today. It is *always* frustrating for me to solder in these conditions. But it is a self-choice for this to be a workday or a sit-on-my-arse day. I chose the wind and frustration because I am sick of sitting around doing very little due to this stupid virus.

I am about to end my little break and go out to see how clean I can get all this mess.

[the elephant]

Oh, yeah. In case some of you are "lost" again, this is the BBb wall hanger, now a very nice CC…

[Tubajug]

I'm excited to see the finished CC!

Is it going to be *obviously* visibly different from the factory CC? I know you said the BBb bows were more "slender" than the CC. Or will it, at first glance, look like your average 186 CC?

[the elephant]

They look the same. Unless you know it used to be a BBb tuba you will not be able to tell just by looking. If you place the two horns side-by-side you might notice that the top bow is a little skinnier.

The two big differences would be that the 5th valve's upper slide port points in the wrong direction, so the top 5th slide uses the crook used on the old flat major 3rd system, and the 4th slide circuit, while following the same routing as that of the CC horns, is pieced together from the old BBb runners that have been chopped up and flipped around. They might need some braces that I have to make, so those might be noticeable to someone giving it a playtest.

Joe's silver 186 uses the lower 5th crook on top, but his wider crook extends outwards while mine will be extended inwards. So our two lower slides will be different. His is much wider and mine will be stock.

This is the main part of the BBb 4th circuit. This old photo with annotations is part of a series I did on what would have to be done to these parts to be able to lay them out like the CC 4th slide.




Here is my solution for using a non-5th valve. It is not good, and I might later opt to purchase a 5th valve and the needed slide parts, but if this works well then it will have to stay.


This is a correct 5th valve and upper slide, for comparison.

[the elephant]

Okay, spent the a.m. digging through my project boxes and tubs, etc. to set up my work list for the rest of the week and I started pulling lots of little parts to install to the BBb/CC tuba's valve section. Yes, the old, beat BBb and NOT the high zoot CC. That horn is covered in the other thread I am running right now.

So I planned and organized and then filled a small box with the parts I had intended to install today, or damaged parts that needed silver soldering (torn-off brace feet, cracks, etc.) and I ended up doing NONE of that work and complete something I had been putting off.

Today I hacked up the BBb 4th slide circuit runners and used the parts to mimic the factory 4th on the other 186. The result is pretty dang good if you ask me. I am quite happy with it. However, it is narrower than the CC section as the bows were bent to fit INSIDE of the inner wrap. Also, the CC has this vestigial bend to one part that allows the old-style 5th valve (a flat M3) long runner slip between it and one of the bugle branches.

Since the old two-tone 5th is still an option it makes sense for Miraphone to continue to include the otherwise appendix-of-a-bend that makes no sense if you have never examined the old-style 5th slide circuit.

So, my runner from 4th that takes the same route does not have this bend, and it ALSO does not then bend again in the opposite direction to allow the slide tubes to run above/outside of the two branches it lives next to. Subtract one inch from the total length needed for the complete 4th loop.

Next, since these are narrower parts, the top hoop is one inch narrower in its diameter. Subtract another inch.

The narrow, lower bow is about a half-inch narrower. That is 2.5" shorter so far.

The BBb tuba's 4th lower runner is cut to the same length as the 3rd, so the BBb 4th slide can live DIRECTLY BEHIND the 3rd slide. The wider top hoop on the backside of the CC means that the same runner is offset toward the bell from the 3rd slide tube above it by a half-inch. There you go.

That is three inches that this slide circuit is now too short. This means my already-pulled-out 4th slide will have to come out an additional 1.5" to be at the same pitch level as that of my CC 186. This is no bueno.

For now, my slide assembly is about an inch and a quarter higher up the back of the horn. If I pull it out just a bit more than what I am used to with the CC they should sound the same pitch. Probably. I hope. Okay, maybe. We shall see.

If the length turns out not to be a problem I can remove the entire slide assembly from the runners, remove a spacer I had to add once I had realized this length difference. (Man, I sincerely wish I had noted this BEFORE I chopped up the BBb slide parts. D@mmit!)

Also, as I keep saying: If this tuba turns out to be really decent I will just buy the correct parts. It is only four runners to completely remove the remaining BBb parts from the 4th circuit. Not a big deal. Again, I want to see if this can be done before I run off and buy fancy parts and such.

Here are some pics…

BBb parts: Note that the lower 3rd runner and the upper 4th runner extend out from the valve the same amount. This is very important.


This is the CC, and you can tell how far the upper 4th runner extends beyond the lower 3rd. This moves the slide assembly to one side and requires a longer runner with a slight S shape to bow out, making space for another slide tube, then bow back to wrap the tube slightly "around the corner" of bugle branches. The BBb parts I chopped up will not have this rather complex bend, so I can never add the old-style 5th slide length and my slide will also be a little farther away from the bell, which affects the fit of all my parts and the location of the slide crook relative to the player's left thumb.


Same thing: BBb parts, one on top of the other…


And CC parts, the lower one sticking out a good but farther from the valve body…


Here are the two halves of my cobbled-together 4th slide circuit. It is (probably) the same length and the very short, internally mounted BBb 4th slide is now a long-pull slide located where it *needs* to live.


Knowing full-well that I might dump all this for properly made CC runners, let us see how close my copy is to the original. This is the CC tuba using all factory CC parts…


This is a factory BBb using BBb parts that I have shortened and reshaped to mimic those used to make a CC 186. EVERY PART HAS BEEN ALTERED. Please note that I am NOT KIDDING when I say the CC is a fatter tuba. These two pics clearly show that. I suspect that Miraphone, in trying to make the CC have a sound with the depth of the longer BBb they increased the internal volume. Whatever — it works. This tuba — as it is right now — will probably make an excellent band and quintet tuba, but might be too barky for orchestra on big pieces. I guess we'll find that out pretty soon…


This is by no means any great work, but it is creative and sort of clever, and it will allow me to *finally* find out how this tuba plays. It could end up being a real bowser, but it also could almost equal my excellent CC 186. Oh, the CC is on the left and the cut CC is on the right.

[prairieboy1]

I have absolutely no idea how you keep all this stuff straight either in your head or on your workbench! Soon you will have two terrific horns and then, HOLTON!!

[York-aholic]

I agree re: keeping things straight.

On the other hand, how useful to have a factory CC there to reference.

Nice work as always Mr. Elephant.

[the elephant]

The issue is (truly) that I ignore the CC as a reference most of the time and simply wing it. There are a few things wrong with the CC (all of which are very minor) that are fine on this cut tuba because I decided to reference the CC to avoid a recurrence of that issue.

There are many things wrong with this cut tuba. Some of them are "make it work" things because my cut parts are, in fact, not *exactly* the same as the factory CC parts. In some cases this was due to damage that I could not easily remove and that did not seem to be all that bad; however, after the part was installed I discovered that it would not line up correctly.

I *could* build this tuba just as carefully as the CC, but that would require that I care as much about it. Until I get to trial it in my orchestra and a quintet gig or three I can't really say that I even like it.

I did the things needed to get the CC up to snuff for work. I did not fall in love with it until I had played it for about a semester. Then I tore it apart and have been restoring it since then. It is a lifetime keeper, so I am ironing out every tiny thing I can.

This homemade tuba probably has not been played for real in two decades. I have never heard it. I bought it for parts. Now it is becoming a playable instrument, again. If I love it like I love my CC then I might give it the full treatment, too.

It's hard to tell what, exactly, will happen with this one. I am afraid it will play like crap. I don't really know, but I am trusting the folks who worked at Miraphone in 1971 to have made this one just as well as my CC, and that my cutting it did not destroy a good tuba, nor did all the many cracks and holes in the bottom bow and bell flare.

Time for coffee…

[the elephant]

The lever rack posts are now on. It took me a couple of hours to unf**ktangulate the three posts. They did not *look* terrible, but there was no way they were going to line up correctly unless I did a lot of tweaking to them. This sort of tail-chasing work is something I dislike.

Currently, the three posts are on, but the rack is crooked because the post mounted to the 1st slide tube is short, and the two others are longer, but in a perfect slope. (I am fairly certain that this sloppiness is factory work.) It is off by less than 1/8" from one end to the other, so I will grind the other two posts down to match 1st, and then file across the tops to get a flush fit beneath the lever rack.

The lever rack was bent into a weird shape that was tons of fun to flatten. It is still not perfectly flat, so I have to work on that, too.

I also got the water key installed. I had forgotten how off-center the hole had been drilled. This is one of the parts taken from the CC. And it does not work on this horn at all, with both ends being too short. This is due to my homemade 5th branch. Some correction there would solve this. (Yes, I am considering pulling this section apart again.) With the drain hole being so far off to one side, the key has to be soldered on at a wacky angle that pisses me off. This part is #1 on the list of my next order from Miraphone.

I had a busy day down in Jackson and only got home as the temp and sun were dropping. I did not expect to get anything done at all, but my day went so well that I was motivated to do *something*. I quit only because my fingers were stiffening up due to the cold and humidity. Tomorrow, I will reassemble the valves, install the 5th lever system, the lever rack and levers, the new Minibal linkages, and the water key spring. (Yeah, it's just flopping around, loose, right now.)

No pics. Imagine a lever rack and water key being present in the earlier photo. Try. You can do it.

There you go.

[the elephant]

Now for last night's pics.

I did some checking. The lever rack is fine where it is. I will file the three post tops later, so that they are flush under the bar, but things are fine in that regard.

The water key is even wonkier than I thought it was. Why would someone drill a drain hole so far off to the side like that? Whatever. A new water key elbow will solve the issues in that area.

I did some measuring, and I now know where the second cut to my chopped 5th branch needs to be made. A correction in that spot will line everything up nicely, I think, but that means teardown, cleanup, adjusting, reassembly, and more cleanup. I think this may be the point of diminishing returns.

Here is the former BBb valve section. I do not yet have the parts needed to build the 5th slide circuit. I might order a proper 5th valve for this horn at the time I get the other needed parts, or I might go with my design that allows the use of the *wrong* valve that I have installed. I have not yet decided.


This is a better shot of my newly hacked together 4th slide circuit.


The blue circle is where one of the inch-long cracks used to be.


She mocks me.

[prairieboy1]

After seeing your work and level of perfectionism for three years and counting, I have no doubt that your "cut" BBb project will turn out just as well as the CC one did. Looking forward to more pictures and postings when you have time!

[the elephant]

Thanks! and BOY, DO I HOPE SO!!!

The one real hold up right now is that the outside face of the bottom bow is still similar to Swiss cheese. I can fully fix it, but I am afraid it is too embrittled to use for long. I fear a serious knock to it would open up another hole. I have to consult with a mentor of mine about possibly annealing it fully to soften it back up. But really good annealing would likely open up all the fixed holes and cracks.

Ugh… This is too much to worry about right now, so I will be concentrating on finishing the bell in another two weeks or so.

This cut tuba is about to get its last major work to the assembly as shown (top bow, inner branches, valve section) and then that will be plopped onto the other (very nice CC) 186's bell and bottom bow. I can then test my valve section and note any timing issues I may have introduced when cutting everything. Using the known bell and bow will make this an easy task. Once I am happy with everything I will remove this assembly and set it aside until my bottom bow has been sorted (or melted and replaced).

Once this has been done I can then reassemble the CC and NEVER TOUCH IT AGAIN WITH FLAME OR DREMEL TOOL.

Tomorrow, I will start work on pulling some windows out of what used to be an exterior wall and temporarily cover the space. (I will sort that wall's issues at a later date.) I plan to install these twin double-hung windows in an existing rough opening in my attic that is currently filled with large vent louvers. I will be trying to build a room up there this winter. (This will likely provide some of my more experienced DIY friends with endless laughter until the vernal equinox.) I have measured the rough opening several times over the years and am certain that they had these stupid-large louvers installed with an eye toward windows at some point in time that never happened for them. I think the staircase up to the attic was what stopped work up there. There was no code when it was built (1937), but I think one for "fire exits" was adopted in 1948, so they waited too long, and now the "substandard" width of the steps (28") would require a wall to be knocked out so that the attic can be improved into living space. Seeing how I have no intentions to ever move I will probably thumb my nose at "code" and improve the stairs as possible, trying to disguise them as the original stringers and risers by reusing the original treads.

All I have to say about this situation is to FIGHT THE POWER, baby.

HAHAHA!!!

These windows (note the view into my den)…


… will be going into the huge louvers upstairs…


… to allow me to build a nice room in here. I hope.

[bloke]

An attic is also really easy to ventilate, and that wall right next to those window openings is a really easy place to open up for a air conditioning window unit, if that seems practical.

With the mild temperatures in the winter in central Mississippi, I’d be tempted to just go up there wearing two sweatshirts, and not worry too much about heat. When working in my shop vigorously in the winter, I’m pretty happy when it’s about 55° in there, but can’t afford to cool it down to 55° in the summer, obviously.
Decades ago, I had a space not that nice for buffing - standing on 2 x 6 ceiling rafters with half-inch plywood thrown over them (though the plaster-and-lathe ceiling - in addition to the timbers being much more dense than those sold today - surely added some strength), and only a cheaply-made fold-down stairway.
Schlepping sousaphones up-and-down out of there was crazy.
If you are looking for some inexpensive additional flooring, a man in Booneville, Mississippi - who builds trailers - sells 4-feet-wide by different cut-off lengths of 3/4 inch thick treated plywood for only about a buck for each piece. He sold me bunch of them (that are all 14 1/2 inches wide), but he also has wider ones - all the same as each other - sometimes.

BOTTOM BOW SUGGESTION:
Ask around (social media, etc.) if someone has a 186 bottom bow lying around.
Most old funky ones - at least, that I've seen - are not cracked, and as they dent-machine out really nicely - also typically haven't been buffed down thin.
I ~almost~ have one that I could donate, but - as everything else is there...and there IS a chance that the instrument could be resurrected - I'm going to have to hold on to it. There is a customer's instrument (here in "limbo" for years...) with horrible valves, a horrible bell, a horrible mouthpipe, and a good bottom bow, but - well - it ain't mine, so...

[the elephant]

Yeah, the bottom bow I have is *probably* fine, but the embrittlement of the area beneath the cap concerns me; I have never seen such localized cracking. I imagine the thing has been crushed and pointed out many times and is just severely work-hardened. That is why I thought it might be worth it to heavily anneal that area and then gently work it back to something like the correct stiffness by doing the remaining dent work with a small hammer rather than dent balls or the old Z-60. I can fix all of it — it's just so MUCH to fix in the one part.

The fun of this is to use up old parts, not create more of them — but I might look for another bottom bow simply to move this project along.

Regarding the conditioning of the air up in the attic room that I will be making, it would be much faster, cheaper, and EASIER (my favorite reason) to splice-in to the existing ductwork. I think all (or most) of the ductwork is tin tubes that have been fastened using machine screws rather than rivets. It is feasible for me to disassemble my entire system part-by-part for cleaning. All the insulation blankets are in poor condition, so I was hoping to buy new ones. If I do, every section of ductwork will be opened up and cleaned. I have two short runs that no longer allow air to pass at all, so this is something I have been thinking about for some time.

As a part of this process, splicing in a T for a register would be a piece of cake, and I have one of those of the correct diameter in a box up there. I am laying out the walls on points where ductwork runs directly behind, so that is even better. I plan on insulating everything, including re-doing the insulation between the floor planks and the downstairs ceiling. It will probably be the only well-insulated space in the house. (Typical Deep South home from the 1930s: the walls all are absolutely empty, so it gets COLD in the early months of each year. That is another project that has been ongoing for the last decade, being addressed one room at a time as we replace the ugly, fake paneling from the late 1960s. I hate that stuff.)

[bloke]

very cool...
Those things occurred to me, but I thought it best to not make my overly-long post (in someone's else thread) even longer.

All of that sounds like a wonderful plan, stuff that can be done piecemeal, and possibly even (particularly as there is so much remodeling going on - with housing sales booming) with some salvage materials...

...hey...
I'm never too proud to pick up nice boards off some discard pile, carry them home, and pull nails.
Yesterday (because most of them were straight, and were easy to pull without bending them), I even kept all the nails that I pulled from a big stack of discarded (premium-grade/no-knots/imported from Sweden) 1X4's. I cut them to 102.5" and 106.6" lengths to replace weather-damaged and animal-damaged removable slats (in the OLD barn, that Mrs. bloke and I built years ago). It probably saved me $40...
...and - the time spent pulling the nails, was probably HALF the time that it would have taken to drive - r/t - to the nearest lumberyard.

EDIT (and please notice that I avoided posting yet again)...and - at the risk of way overemphasizing a point...

Here are the OLD boards (busted off on their ends - formerly 102.5" and 106.5") that the new/salvage "product of Sweden" boards replaced...and these (cypress) boards are NOT going to be discarded, but will be used (as is seen, below) to make a new side door for the (same) barn (along with some old salvaged 5/4 treated deck boards, as also seen), as the (barely-)existing side door has also been destroyed by animals.

[the elephant]

I save and straighten really old nails, since getting anything beyond craptacular nails at the big box stores is now impossible. The heads of nails today cannot withstand a claw hammer prying them out. The heads pop off or fold up like a taco, leaving you to eat that hammer or your wrist or whatever flies up when the nail gives out. And then you have to figure out how to pull the wire out with pliers.

No thanks. I save old nails. I am weird like that.



I will get to working on this tuba again soon and re-rail this thread, folks. I promise.