I immediately did (as most of you cannot without taking it somewhere) an acid/chemical cleaning. (btw...a "good bath in the tub" does virtually no good, but I'm tired of saying this, so I don't say it as often anymore, and please consider this as an aside, and NOT the main topic of this post).
The (rotary) valves - of course - worked MUCH better, but (just as with all of my other instruments) I VERY thoroughly/heavily oil the valves (and allow the oil to slosh around to adjacent circuits as well - as oily surfaces will not attract lime/scale) prior to each playing, as well as moderately oiling them afterward. I've also stated that I use very inexpensive thin oil (purchased in gallon containers) in order for this routine to not become financial burden on myself.
OK...The rotors - on this instrument - have become better/Better/BETTER - as oiling articulating surfaces helps burnish those surfaces, and aids those surfaces in conforming to each other.
I'm also tired of stating/implying this, but I can never help but wonder (re: those who talk about this/that/the-other make of friggin' $4/oz. oil helping valves, as well as those who claim that pistons/rotors are preferred by them over rotors/pistons) how mediocre the valve action must be (compared to what it potentially could be) on so very many tubas (from $2500 tubas to $25000 tubas, and from scuffling amateurs to tuba-community-recognized professionals). Indeed - when I work on tubas NOT brought to me for "valve cleaning" - I rarely am impressed with the valve action on others' tubas.
bloke "just sayin'...yet again..."
). When it dropped down to -1 F. here (a few weeks ago), it was still c. thirty-something in that shop. You might (??) check into the cost of that, if - for no other reason - so that your shop heats up more quickly (particularly as you live "up there"). If the construction of your shed is "barn-style" (no 16" center studs) - and you don't want to purchase sheet rock, OSB or lumber, you can probably hold backed fiberglass insulation in with (run horizontally) that same plastic material that HVAC people staple in attics/crawl spaces to hang flex-duct...or (perhaps better...??) that orange plastic temporary fence material (I used this under my house to make certain that between-joists insulation doesn't fall).
