Klarinet Archive - Posting 000274.txt from 1998/02

From: Douglas Sears <dsears@-----.org>
Subj: Re: Greenlines
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 1998 04:42:50 -0500

Whether you call it plastic or not, it sounds to me like pretty
good stuff to make a clarinet from, with essentially the same
density as grenadilla but reduced tendency to crack.

"Plastics" are very often composites like that, with a high
proportion of some non-resin and a small amount of resin such as
epoxy (polycarbonate is also a plastic, by the way). The non-resin
can be for reinforcement, such as the glass fiber (w/ epoxy or
polyester resin) in Fiberglas(tm), and the cloth (w/
urea-formaldehyde resin) in Bakelite; or it can be a powdered or
granulated filler, used to make the plastic cheaper or change its
properties. A mineral filler could make the composite denser,
harder, and more heat-resistant, for example. These things are all
loosely called "plastic". However, I think a better term for the
Greenline would be "grenadilla/epoxy composite": it's not
misleading, and it's indisputably correct (oh, well, maybe you could
say it should be "African blackwood/epoxy/polycarbonate
composite"...)

On Wed, 4 Feb 1998, Matthew Hanson wrote:

> This is a very interesting ratio.
> It makes me wonder how they keep the instrument together so well with
> only 5% epoxy-especially if it is guaranteed to not crack. Hmmm...

> > The Buffet/Boosey & Hawkes web site says that the Greenline features
> > "Body of 95% granulated Grenadilla wood and 5% polycarbonate fiber
> > and epoxy resin."
> > ---------------------------------------------------
> > Russ Rozinek, Maxwell, Iowa

--Doug

--------------------------
Doug Sears dsears@-----.org/~dsears