Klarinet Archive - Posting 000106.txt from 1996/11

From: Roger Shilcock
Subj: Re: Mouthpiece Mania/freezing (fwd)
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 1996 04:15:49 -0500

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 16:12:47 -0600
From: Steve Prescott <mipresc%RUBY.INDSTATE.EDU@-----.UK>
Subject: Re: Mouthpiece Mania/freezing (fwd)

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
Yes -- it is a different angle. Freezing a metal withdraws possible
vibrational energy from it. Heating adds it. Some metals undergo
allotropic changes when cooled - these are not generally structurally
beneficial and they tend not to be preserved when the metal returns to
room temperature. If they were, you would have a metastable sax, or whatever.
Roger Shilcock