Klarinet Archive - Posting 000083.txt from 1996/11

From: Steve Prescott <mipresc@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: Mouthpiece Mania/freezing (fwd)
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 17:38:02 -0500

Dan P. wrote:

>I think what is meant is that the crystal structure of the compound is
>"aligned" or unstressed. It is suppose to work the same as when you temper
>steel - you heat it up so as to unstress the metal and make it stronger.
> When a clarinet key is power forged - a giant weight or pnuematic
>press comes down on a piece of metal and forms the key - there is stress
>built into the molecular latice of the metal. If you heat that key up -
>anneal - you relieve some of that stress in the molecular latice, so the
>key is stronger. The deep freeze method is suppose to work like that. I
>have some literature on the process somewhere - I'll look for it this week.
>My engineering books are 600 miles away in my mom's attic in Milwaukee -
>I'll check those next time I'm in at Christmas.
>
>Dan
>
Dan,

I can agree with all but the part about annealing the key and
making it stronger. Annealing a non-ferrous metal softens the metal and
makes it more malleable. Annealing a ferrous metal hardens it. Or are we
approaching the same thing from a different angle?

Steve

Steve Prescott
Instrument Rep.Tech./ Clarinetist
Indiana State University
mipresc@-----.edu