Klarinet Archive - Posting 000299.txt from 1995/07

From: Gerry Evoniuk <Gerald.Evoniuk@-----.BITNET>
Subj: Re: Re[2]: Help req re. stuck barrel
Date: Fri, 28 Jul 1995 14:45:20 -0400

My experience with stuck clarinet barrels and sticky joints is that the
tenon has warped to an oval shape. If someone measures the outside
diameter of the tenon with a micrometer or a caliper this is quickly
evident. In fact I've seen many instruments come from the factory in this
condition. This is not to say it left the factory this way. But wood does
change and this is often what happens. In an effort to build an instrument
that does not rock at the joints the builder tries to establish some sort of
compromise between the point that a joint would surely be too tight and give
little tolerance for this change in shape and the point where if the joint
shrinks some could make it wobble too much. Many times I am brought a new
clarinet and I am asked to sand some cork off a tenon because it is too
tight. Often it is not the cork that is too tight it is the wood on either
side of the cork that is too tight. After all, the cork is simply a gasket
that keeps the joint from leaking. It is the job of the bands of wood on
either side of the cork to keep the joint from wobbling.

I have never seen a barrel I couldn't get off a joint. Although... last
year someone here at ASU was trying out different barrels from different
vintage Buffet's and I thought I had one that was forever stuck. I thought
this because the person admitted using more t little force to mount the
barrel in the first place!

At this point, I usually take the trill keys off so I can get a good grip
on the upper joint. The point is not to use force!! I Try to rock the barrel
side to side. Usually with a warped tenon you can find by feel a point
where this rocking occurs. I just gently work it back and for until it comes
off the joint. At this point if the tenon is greased and the barrel very
carefully remounted, one can feel where the friction begins. Sometimes it is
as the barrel is first mounted and sometimes not until it is almost fully
mounted.

At this point I will put the joint in a lathe and take off a TINY amount of
wood in the area I felt the friction. In a warped joint, that wood will come
off the "high" spot making the tenon somewhat round again. I say somewhat
because one does not want to make the joint too loose. this task could be
done freehand with a lathe using a little sandpaper but with much

If the tenon is not brought into round and left oval (assuming lots of
grease and care in assembling are used) the joint will eventually free up.
This due to a combination of the wood again changing and the friction of
mounting and unmounting the barrel time and time again. Also when tenon
corks are changed and sanded to shape some wood will be removed by the
sandpaper in the shaping operation. More so if the instrument is sanded
freehand as opposed to being spun in a lathe which allows much more control
of the sandpaper. The key decision point here is how long will this process
take and will the barrel sticking occur with regularity?

My suggestion is leave this task to a competent, experienced tech.

Gerry Evoniuk
Desert Winds Music Inc.
1889 E. Broadway
Tempe, AZ 85282

(602) 966-1180 Fax (602)966-1310

also
******************************************
Gerald Evoniuk
Instrument repair technician
School of Music, Box 870405
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 85287-0405
(602)965-4502
Fax 602-965-2659
email Gerald.Evoniuk@-----.EDU