This bottom bow was comically smashed it. I annealed it (uh...with something a bit hotter than a butane lighter, just fwiw) five or six times, used my behemoth oblong STP-slathered "dent-eater" ball, and two 1-inch stacked earth magnets (along with a whole bunch of slamming and pressure. Bluntly, this requires "ogre" strength...just a bit more than "identifying as an ogre" strength.
again:
These young guys who "work out"...They don't much "work" their forearms, wrists, and finger muscles, so they really (besides no skills/experience) aren't much use in this domain.
I did NOT remove this bottom bow from this tuba, to be clear...I tossed the (joke) sheet metal guard in the scrap brass, and they'll be getting a salvaged chunk of sousaphone guard wire in its place.
I'm not finished with this tuba...I'll probably be done in an hour...The bill is somewhat formidable...ie. (re: four years of hyperinflation) I might be able to buy SIX sacks of low-end groceries (chicken-beak bologna, greasy bags of chicken thigh quarters, etc.) with the revenue from this repair.
I'll polish the solder off the ends, but (as the rest of the tuba is BROWN, I'm not polishing the rest of this blokepipe.
I have some easy dent removal remaining, but this bottom bow was one for the comic books...and no, I DID NOT remove it from the tuba:
again: I'll clean up the ENDS of this blokepipe, but no other buffing.
summary:
Don't be thinkin' this sh!t is all about white lab coats, Allied-Supply aprons, and micrometers...(ie. facebook repairs - just like everything else on facebook - are often bullsh!t.)
clarifications:
' no brags about being a Bluto...' only emphasis on the fact that perspiration and (from time-to-time) maximum efforts (and aspirin/hot tub soaks) are involved.