Klarinet Archive - Posting 000777.txt from 1999/10

From: jim and joyce <lande@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] cracks -- possible wood treatment?
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 13:09:29 -0400

Dee
I agree with your conclusion -- that some pieces of wood are going
to crack
no matter what. Woodworkers talk about 'compression' and 'tension'
wood. ---
that is, parts of the tree that grow under compression (below a limb,
for example) or
under tension (if a tree leans away from one side, that side may get
pulled as it
grows). The result is that as moisture content changes some pieces of
wood will
expand and contract significantly more than other parts and that this
causes warping
and cracking. Thus, the flaw would be in the structure of the wood,
not in some
hidden or almost invisible crack. As to the amount of force generated,
wood
wedges were used to split stone. Wood was inserted into stone and then
soaked to
swell it. I have seen a picture of an oak board bolted at either end to
a steel beam.
The board cracked in half AGAINST THE GRAIN as a result of repeated
changes in humidity.

One way to stabilize wood for carving is to leave it soak in
polyethylene Glycol
until that chemical has displaced most internal water. I wonder
whether wood so
treated would be suitable for making clarinets?

jim

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