Klarinet Archive - Posting 000305.txt from 1995/01

From: Steve Fowler <sfowler@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: RRepairing pads
Date: Sat, 21 Jan 1995 18:10:12 -0500

You wrote:

>
>Hello:
>
>A pad on my tenor sax fell off the other day and I was wondering how to
fix
>it. I seem to remember one day one of my old student clarinet's pads
fell
>off and my teacher simply put it back in and heated it with a lighter
to
>melt the glue and reattach it - is my remembrance (over 15 years old
likely)
>correct? I admit I tried it one spec and it didn't work - what is used
to
>hold the pads, anything special? I would hazard a guess that some sort
of
>wax is involved, would candle wax work in a pinch? Or is something
else
>needed? Thanks!
>
>Regards,
> Gord
>
>

Gord,

The first thing you should do is find a repair tech. You have know idea
how much better you will play after your horn is properly repaired and
checked for other leaky pads.

But, if you must...

Pads are glued in place. in the past, we have used stick shellac or
cream adhesives that were melted using heat. The amount of heat required
on a sax key can be sometimes a little more than you may think.

Nowadays, most of us use a form of Hot Glue. The stuff that requires a
gun and makes a good hobby glue. The type I use is Craftsman wood hot
glue. The pad cup still has to be warm.

If you are going to try and put a pad back in, which a tech should not,
Make very sure that the tonehole is hitting the pad in the same place.
Look at the impression in the pad to line it up properly. Don't expect
anything more than a temporary repair.

Good luck.

Steve Fowler
Fowler Music Service
Annapolis, MD