buying a dent machine

[jose the tuba player]

I am considering buying a z60 dent machine or a mini z dent machine.
My frustration at my current situation has led me to believe that I am better off buying my own equipment.
I have been in line at a shop for over 6 months now with no progress on the chemical clean or dent repair.
as of last week my 21j will now be bumped till august after school repairs are complete.
I am stuck between ordering a mini z with more tooling or a full size zz60 on a bench mount with less tooling. i have 3 conn 2xjs so im mainly working on 6/4 tuba bows and bells.
I am a mechanic by trade so i am not scared of the price tag.

[gocsick]

Sorry I didn't have an answer but I am going to piggy back on this question with a related one...

What is the bare minimum set of tools to handle most dentwork? Neglecting things like trombone handslide mandrels and valve casing mandrels. If you goal was to bang debts out of bells, bugles and valve knuckles what would you really need?

[bloke]

What is the "trick" to jazz?

[Rick Denney]

Sorry I didn't have an answer but I am going to piggy back on this question with a related one...

What is the bare minimum set of tools to handle most dentwork? Neglecting things like trombone handslide mandrels and valve casing mandrels. If you goal was to bang debts out of bells, bugles and valve knuckles what would you really need?

Ferree's used to (and may still) sell a "student" set that included a dent-ball rod, a few various dent balls to screw onto the end of it, and several valve-knuckle tools with small dent balls brazed on the end of rods of various shapes. For valve tubing, you also need a dent balls in a range of sizes that you an screw onto or otherwise attach to cables for pulling through valve tubing. I have a set of ten for 3/4" tubing that is spaced every .020", but that is really just marginally enough to do passable work. I found the rod to be a little too short for a tall-bell instrument, so I extended it by making an extension sleeve in the lathe that I can clamp in the vise. I need to mill flats on that sleeve so that the vise will grab it more securely. I've had that kit for probably 20 years, and managed to do a reasonable amount of damage with it.

The student stuff is not as polished as the regular stuff, so those balls have to be used on the inside.

I have this feeling that if one can't do passable work with that kit and unlimited time, they won't be able to do passable work with a more complete kit and unlimited time. If they can do passable work with that kit, the regular stuff will probably help them be more efficient.

Rick "suggesting the formula for success: 10% tools and 90% skill and experience" Denney