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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000083.txt from 2007/02

From: "Edward B. Flowers" <flowerse@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Old oboes --- was :Age of my English Horn
Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 20:23:56 -0500

Edwin,

Everything you say sounds reasonable. Still though, I wonder:
--Don't older oboes go sharp-->smaller bore-->this implies expanding
wood (your version) with moisture absorption?
--Did Moenig have a demonstration to show how much moisture the
grenadilla absorbed? You describe oil absorption.
--Might'nt moisture be absorbed by the wood faster than oil because much
of it is in the form of vapor?
--Do you swab out your oboe before you put it away? Doesn't an oboe put
away unswabbed tend to crack?
--Teitelbaum says that one Italian oboe maker infuses the entire body
with oil, with the result that the sound is mushy.
--The Sawicki manual convinced me that the oiling was superficial. They
say that most of the oil is removed at the next swabbing.

Edward B. Flowers (ob)
New York City

Lacy, Edwin wrote:
> <<<Also, I am confused by the statement about the bore absorbing
> moisture
> and shrinking. Can anybody help?>>>
>
> Grenadilla wood will actually absorb very little moisture. The
> molecular structure is so dense, and the wood contains so much natural
> oil that water or any other liquid will hardly penetrate the wood at
> all.
>
> According to reports from people who observed this, Hans Moennig used to
> demonstrate what he thought was the futility of oiling an oboe or
> clarinet. He reportedly had a block of grenadilla that had been soaking
> in oil for years. When this subject came up, he would take the block of
> wood out of the oil, wipe off the surface, and slice off a segment of it
> in order to demonstrate that the oil was only on the surface and had not
> penetrated the wood at all.
>
> Also, each time this topic comes up, I post this, and it usually results
> in a war of words. But, the fact is that in a hollow tube, if the
> material shrinks, the bore will become larger, not smaller. The wood
> tends to shrink toward its own center, so the outside of the tube will
> become smaller while the inside diameter becomes larger. Somehow it
> seems easier to conceptualize that if the material expands, the bore
> will become smaller, but the converse seems harder to accept.
>
> I realize that this is counterintuitive, but nevertheless it is true.
> Don't take my word for it - ask someone with a degree in mechanical
> engineering or materials science.
>
> Ed Lacy
> University of Evansville
>
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