How saxophones are made

Saxophones have more than 600 parts, and their tone holes are pulled out of the tube wall like tiny chimneys.

stations: 9
things upstream: 64
raw sources: 25
steps from the ground: 7

The short version

A flat trapezoid of thin brass, rolled into a cone and welded, forms the body of a saxophone. Tone holes are drawn outward from holes cut in the tube. The bow and bell are pressed from brass halves, the keywork is machined and soldered on, and the whole horn is lacquered or plated, then pad-sealed and tested.

Cut the brass trapezoid

Each body starts as a sheet of brass 0.6 to 0.7 millimeters thick, cut in a trapezoid so it will roll into a cone.

Goes in
Brass
Roll and weld the tube

The sheet is rolled, welded along its seam, and drawn out on a conical chuck. Several rounds of tempering take out the stresses that forming builds in the metal.
Draw out the tone holes

Oblong holes are bored in the tube, and the metal around each one is drawn upward into a raised rim. Selmer has used this method since 1922. It saves soldering on separate chimneys.
Press the bow and bell

The curved bow joint is pressed in two half-shells and brazed together. Its final size is set by hydraulic inflation, with liquid injected at high pressure into the part inside a die. Bells for alto and tenor saxophones are pressed in halves and argon-welded.

Goes in
Brass
Machine the keywork

Key arms, pad cups, posts and rings are cut, drilled, milled and stamped. Rods and screws are commonly steel.

Goes in
Brass Steel
Solder the keywork on

Posts are positioned on plates, then silver-soldered to the body. After soldering the body goes through a bath that clears solder residue, and workers file it by hand.

Goes in
Solder Silver
Lacquer or plate it

Most saxophones get a thin coat of clear or colored acrylic lacquer to stop the brass from oxidizing. Silver or gold plating is sold as an option.

Goes in
Lacquer
Seal the pads and check leaks

Leather pads on the key cups must seal the tone holes. Technicians shine a light inside the bore and look for any glow leaking round a pad.

Goes in
Leather
Play-test each horn

Every instrument is tested in soundproof booths for acoustic and mechanical performance before it ships.

End of the lineSaxophone

Worth repeating

Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone in the early 1840s and patented it on 28 June 1846.
A saxophone counts as a woodwind despite its brass body, because its sound comes from a single reed on the mouthpiece.
At Selmer, the neck is curved by bending it through ice.