Klarinet Archive - Posting 000206.txt from 2001/01

From: "Karl Krelove" <karlkrelove@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Epoxy for ring on tenon socket?
Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2001 10:03:18 -0500

Bill,

I'd strongly recommend against any kind of adhesive - if it were meant to be
glued, they'd have glued it at the factory. The rings aren't glued to allow
for expansion and contraction in the wood. Two suggestions instead:

1) Humidify the case - use Dampits or orange peels. The wood shrinkage
nearly always results from dry air, usually in the wintertime when forced
air heat is being used indoors.

2) If humidity alone doesn't solve the problem, there is a technique that
many repair techs use. It basically involves packing a ring of paper under
the metal ring to take up the extra space. (I'll try to do this verbally -
it's a lot easier just to demonstrate it). Take the ring off. Cut a piece of
very thin paper (cigarette paper works well - if the ring is really loose, a
thicker paper might be needed) so it's long enough to wrap once around the
ring seat and a little wider than the ring. Hold the paper around the ring
seat and slide the ring over it so the paper acts as a sort of shim all
around the circumference. For neatness try to start the paper so it isn't
all the way down against the bottom of the ring seat, so when you push the
ring down over it the paper won't spill out from the bottom. Before you push
the ring all the way down (if the paper is thick enough the fit will be
tight and require some slight effort) use a razor blade or sharp knife and
trip the excess paper (now on the inside of the ring at the top of the
socket) right along the top of the socket. If I've described this clearly
enough and you've done it correctly, when you finish pushing the ring down
into its seat, it will be quite tight and no paper will be sticking out at
either end. The ring will still be removable if the need arises, and the
paper is compressible enough to allow for expansion when the weather turns
more humid in the spring.

By the way, the rings on most clarinets are meant to go on in one direction
only. The flat side is the outside. The beveled side (if there is one) is
meant to face in toward the instrument, again to allow the wood room to
expand.

I hope this isn't too confused to be useful. Once you've learned to do it,
it's a pretty routine procedure. I'm sure the standard instrument repair
books describe this with pictures (mine are at school, so I can't check).

Karl Krelove

> -----Original Message-----
> From: William Wright [mailto:Bilwright@-----.net]
> Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2001 4:26 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] Epoxy for ring on tenon socket?
>
>
> The socket end of my bell has shrunk enough that the metal ring
> falls off whenever I assemble/disassemble my clarinet. A repairman
> whom I trust told me to clean the ring and the wood with alcohol and to
> glue them back together with epoxy. But I forgot to ask him one
> detail, and now he's gone for a couple of weeks:
>
> Given that the wood will continue to move with changing seasons and
> conditions, should I put the epoxy only on a small portion of the
> circumference, thereby not trying to lock the wood motionless around its
> entire circumference? Or should I glue the entire circumference? Or
> does it matter?
>
> It seems to me that locking up any future stresses (by gluing the
> entire circumference) would be a bad thing, but I thought I'd ask.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
> Bill
>
>
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