Klarinet Archive - Posting 000476.txt from 1997/01

From: Laurence Liberson <hardreed@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Clarinet tricks
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 10:43:48 -0500

Clarinet technicians (such as Bill Brannen) have been using Teflon on
these pins (and other places on the clarinet) for over twenty years.
My instruments are still quiet after over ten years of use (even when I'm
playing them!).

Larry Liberson
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
hardreed@-----.com

> Dear Fellow Clarinetists,
>
> I don't know how many of you are bothered by key clicking on the left hand
> F#/C# and E/B keys. No doubt you have tried the fish skin on those little
> pins to stop this extra music from intruding on the composer's own.
>
> Here is a little trick I have learned. The mailer pouches used by UPS/Fedex
> are constructed of a material called Tyvek. A combination of Teflon and
> Kevlar fibers if I am not mistaken. Also the old fashioned 5 1/4" floppy
> disks use sleeves made of a thicker version of the same material.
>
> Remove the two offending keys for the left pinkey, revealing the little pins
> and holes.
> Cut a piece of this approx 3/16" by 1/4" and hold it in front of the pin hole
> and then insert the keys. (Some pin/hole combinations are so loose as to
> require the stuff from the floppy disk jacket, or you could cut a piece that
> is 3/8" by 1/4" and fold it in half to get the 3/16" by 1/4" dimension).
>
> This stuff has the advantage of being self lubricating (you can really jamb
> it in there and not restrict motion) and it is TOUGH! Mine having lasted a
> year so far.
>
>
> Jerry Korten
> NYC
>