Klarinet Archive - Posting 001493.txt from 1999/01

From: SDSCHWAEG@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Bore Oil
Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1999 08:20:39 -0500

Without getting too far into the bore oil debate (should you or shouldn't
you?), here's how to do it. Tear off little pieces of wax paper and put them
under all the pads for protection - that way you don't have to take the keys
off. Get a brush swab - they look a little like bottle brushes, except the
end is soft, not bristly. Put a few drops of your chosen bore oil on the
swab. DON'T saturate it with oil. Swab by pushing in and out and twisting at
the same time, to thinly coat the bore with oil. Let the clarinet sit
overnight, then swab with a regular pull-through swab in the morning. Be sure
you don't use too much oil! If you choose to do it at all, you probably only
need to oil about twice a year, in the spring and fall when the weather
changes and the heat goes on or off in your house.
Personally, the above is the routine I follow, mostly out of
superstition. My clarinets are almost 25 years old, and for at least half
that time I never did anything to them and have never had any trouble with
cracking. (Quick story - when I was a kid, I read a REALLY old book in the
library that recommended oiling the bore with a "good grade of olive oil."
I'd never heard of bore oiling before, and panicked because I hadn't been
doing it. I soaked one of those little chamois swabs in olive oil and greased
up my clarinet but good, including the exterior! Did this every month. Horn
smelled like a greasy spoon restaurant and collected dirt like you wouldn't
believe. When it went into the shop, the repairman - gee, I think it was Bill
Brannen! - looked me straight in the eye and VERY sternly said, "You will
NEVER do this again!" Didn't even attempt to oil the bore again for 15
years.) People have said that if your clarinet is going to crack, it is
likely to do it in the first year and nothing much is going to prevent it.
Better safe than sorry though - good care would involve protecting the
instrument from extreme changes in temperature, maintaining the humidity level
so the wood doesn't get dried out, and, perhaps, following a reasonable
schedule of oiling (but leave the olive oil for pasta).

Susan Schwaegler
Augustana College, Rock Island, IL

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