Klarinet Archive - Posting 000669.txt from 1998/09

From: Ed Maurey <edsshop@-----.ca>
Subj: Re: [kl] real subject: breaking in my R-13
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 06:10:04 -0400

Vegetable oils like linseed don't really dry [evaporate] they oxidize. An
oxidized oil first gets gummy then gradually hardens...like paint. That's
precisely why oil based paints have linseed oil in them.
Leblanc's bore oil doesn't completely evaporate. The non volitile part soaks
in. Years after using it a gentle waming of the wood's surface causes it
"sweat" out of the wood. Personally, I think it's an fine product.
Ed Maurey

Arnold Teres wrote:

> Graeme Cox wrote:
> <take some bore oil and apply a little to the outside of your (wooden)
> clarinet. Leave it for a few hours and then inspect. You will find that much
> of the oil has soaked into the surface, leaving only small residues visible.
> If the wood was saturated, this would not happen.>
>
> Well maybe - but there are a group of oils such as linseed and almond oil
> that are called "drying oils" because they dry out on exposure to air. These
> oils are used in paints and inks because they will dry without soaking into
> porus surfaces. I don't know what your bore oil is but the commercial
> LeBlanc bore oil contains petrolium distillates (read light kerosene) to
> give a "drying oil" effect. Your test is inconclusive as stated - try it on
> a piece of glass. If you are left with little to no residue then you are
> using a drying oil and it's not "soaking in". if you are left with a puddle
> then you are correct - the wood is adsorbing the oil. In either case I'm not
> sure if oiling is a good thing unless you have a really "dried out" piece of
> wood. Perhaps Mr. Kloc or some other expert could give us some idea of how
> you tell that a clarinet needs oil since I seem to remember that he did not
> say to never oil but only if it is really needed.
>
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