Klarinet Archive - Posting 000302.txt from 1994/05

From: Clark W Fobes <reedman@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Clarinet materials
Date: Wed, 18 May 1994 20:44:59 -0400

On Wed, 18 May 1994, Chris Hill wrote:

> Interesting news about the high tech composite clarinet.
>
> My guess is, though, that the mixture is more like 5% carbon fiber in a
> polymer matrix (an epoxy, a polyester, or something more exotic), along
> with the wood as a filler.
>
> I would be curious to know whether the properties of the resulting clarinet
> depend on the type of wood fiber that is used to produce the composite. I
> rather suspect that almost any hard, dense wood will do, and that there
> would be nothing magic about grenadilla, for example.
>
I think you missed the point. The reason Buffet is using yhr powder from
the African Blackwood is that there is such a huge amount of waste in
their factory. Most likely other hard woods might do, but why not use a
resource that can be recycled and perhaps reduce the stress on the rainforest
of Madagascar.

I am not certain of the exact mix of matrix/poly fiber carbon. 5% was a
figure given to me by Jack Faas as a rough guesstimate. I really think
this could be an exciting break in clarinet building technology. I'm with Dan
Leeson on being not being too quick to jump at something just because it
is new. I hope that the clarinet world will be sufficientl open minded to
give this idea a good try so as not to meet an untimely demise.

Clark W Fobes