Klarinet Archive - Posting 000233.txt from 1999/07

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Is there a doctor in the house?
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 10:01:34 -0400

Richard Bush wrote,
>I need to talk with a medical doctor who is also a musician. No, I'm not
sick, I just need some help acquiring some medical supplies for use in my
wind instrument repair business....>

Hope people don't mind my replying to the list, but since we've got other
instrument repair people here, too, just wanted to mention that flea markets
sell (for next to nothing, like 25 cents to a dollar per tool) dental picks,
long and unusually-curved tweezers and scissors, forceps and all sorts of
other small medical implements that come in very handy for instrument repair.

*Assume that all of these tools are used and not sterilized afterwards.*

Most of this equipment gets into the flea market because it's "new old stock"
sold off by manufacturers and dealers due to obsolescence or failure to move
off the shelf. This equipment is easy enough to spot, because it's generally
still in its original, sealed packaging. If the packaging looks worn and
pre-dates bar codes, it's a safe bet you're not dealing with FOT merch.
("FOT" stands for "Fell Off a Truck" -- i.e., stolen goods.) That "new old
merch" is the stuff I like to buy, because I've got a good idea of where it's
been. Other tools, sold nekkid (no package) but obviously old, are obsolete
used equipment (sometimes antique, since people collect antique medical
equipment); or they come from a medical practice that closed, for instance.

But -- serious warning here, folks -- some of the modern-looking tools with
no packaging may have been used for Yog knows what and then discarded as
hazardous waste, yesterday. People have been known to scavenge hospital
waste and sell it illegally. If you buy modern-looking medical tools without
packaging from a flea market, I very strongly recommend buying only the
stainless steel tools, and then only if they look clean and they've been
sitting out in direct sunlight. Even then, I would disinfect my hands after
handling these purchases and before I did anything else with such tools, I
would sterilize them by boiling them at a full, rolling boil for twenty
minutes. But that's what I would do *if* I bought such questionable goods,
which I don't. The "ick" factor is too high for me. I want my tools either
obviously old or obviously unused.

BTW, for people in the Washington D.C. area willing to pay a little bit more
than a flea market price for nice *new* medical tools, a good place to buy
them at a big discount is The Antiques Center, just off I-70 (a block from
the Motter/Possumtown exit; the large multi-dealer store is visible from the
freeway) in Frederick, Maryland. Go to the booth that sells display
materials. He doesn't keep a vast assortment of tools, but it's a very
well-thought-out selection: a variety of small surgical scissors and
tweezers, "round the corner" mirrors, dental picks, small rattail files,
magnifying glasses, jewellers' polishing supplies and such, used for
restoring antiques.

Good hunting--
Lelia

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