In MMD 2020.11.29, Mark Labancz advocates the use of some dental
flossing gadgets to help loosen deposits in tracker bar holes so
that the channels are not decreased in effective cross-section area,
leading to spurious repetition of notes when chain perforations,
or more specifically, the associated bridges, may make the valves
overly responsive to same.

Having used these same gadgets myself, it occurred to me that the
softness of their bristles would have little effect on deposits that
were accretions (of what?) as opposed to the simple paper "dust"
or chads that might occasionally clog the holes, and for which they
would probably be effective.

The only material that I can think of that would likely accrete in
the typical indoor environment of a home is the nicotine in cigarette
smoke which, if the case, has more serious implications for the health
of the valves than mere tracker bar hole clogging. If the culprit is
some more tenacious stuff, I doubt the efficacy of the "Gum" rubber
bristles and instead would opt for something with a more aggressive
nature.

A similar product I have used is available from CVS Pharmacy (and
perhaps other pharmacies) and is called an "Interdental Brush and
Toothpick". It is made of a stiff(er) plastic and would be more
effective at removing stubborn deposits.

By either token, I somewhat fear that dislodging such "stuff" might,
if not followed up with vigorous vacuuming, and even then, actually
exacerbate the issue by winding up further down the "food chain"
where it can get into other mischief such as clogging the bleeds.
That said, a thought experiment lead me to a possible 3D printed
solution. (Most of you know of my advocacy of that technology for
an increasing number of applications in our endeavors.)

In this case I came up with a simple gadget that is positioned
laterally over the tracker bar, having a suitable connector accepting
a nominal 1/4-inch I.D. tube that is connected to a local electrically
powered vacuum cleaner, with a small orifice allowing the introduction
of the suggested (Mark's or mine) dental appliance into the tracker bar
hole, and manually reciprocated, loosening the deposits which are
immediately removed via the vacuum port.

Having whipped this up in about 30 minutes, I will not say that it
represents an optimal design for this use, but it's probably a good
starting point. The attached picture should be self-explanatory.

John Grant
Baltimore, Maryland

 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/20/12/05/201205_020940_TBVacuum-BrushHolder.jpg