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Klarinet Archive - Posting 000067.txt from 2001/10

From: "Tony Wakefield" <tony-wakefield@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Benefits of Oiling the Bore...
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 03:27:02 -0400

Tim,

I can`t get into the science of 2 thou being one hundredth of 1 %. You
initially asked about oiling the bore, and we pointed you to this article
which tells you about it. Within it`s considerably boring depth of
scientific theory there is some practical and down to earth advice on how to
care for the wood. That is all we suggested to your question.
Happy oiling.

Best,

Tony W.

From: "Tim Roberts" <timr@-----.com>

"David C. Kumpf" <dkumpf@-----.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >See the articles at
> >http://www.naylors-woodwind-repair.com/publication/index.htm for one
> >perspective on this.
>
> I've read through Larry Naylor's article on Environmental Effects on
> Grenadilla Wood with a critical eye, and it has left me confused.
>
> I don't know how to fit this article into my knowledge base. The author
> clearly has many years of experience repairing clarinets, and that
increases
> his credibility quotient, but much of what he says goes contrary both to
what
> I've heard before, and to what makes sense to me.
>
> Mr. Naylor is clearly a believer in the "blow-out" theory of clarinet
> deterioration, to the point where he says those who do not experience it
are
> simply not "sensitive" enough to notice it.
>
> The article describes expansion and contraction of a wood clarinet from
both
> temperature and moisture, to such a degree that posts change their
relative
> positions enough to make a key bind during a players warm-up period. This
is
> completely counter-intuitive to me. He introduces the article with a
mention
> of "taking consistent, reliable, precise measurements". This got me
excited:
> finally, some real, hard data instead of just unsupported opinions. But
the
> article contains no such measurements, and indeed concludes that such
> measurements are "impossible". This sets of warning bells in my brain;
too
> often, someone will say "measurements are impossible", when instead what
they
> mean is "my measurements produced results that are contrary to what I
> believe."
>
> He describes daily changes in the clarinet's dimensions of one or two
> thousandths of an inch. Such a change should be measurable with todays
> tools. But, even so, I have a hard time accepting that a change of one or
> two thousandths of an inch would be enough to make a key bind, or even to
> noticeably alter the pitch or tone of the instrument. Two thousandths of
an
> inch change in a 20 inch instrument is one hundredth of one percent. I
don't
> believe the human ear could detect one hundredth of one percent change in
> pitch.
>
> I've read opinions on this list from people I trust state that grenadilla
is
> so hard it takes weeks for oil and moisture to penetrate the surface to
any
> appreciable degree. This article describes moisture-induced changes in a
> clarinet to such a degree that I wondered if he has really been working on
> pine instead of grenadilla.
>
> He has before and after picture of a bass clarinet he repaired. The
> description says the wood was "very dry". Now, one cannot judge a
> description like that from a picture, but I do notice that the wood in the
> "before" picture still has a glossy finish, and it is certainly clear in
the
> "after" picture that there is fresh, unabsorbed oil glistening on the
surface
> of the wood. It isn't obvious to me that the wood has been changed in any
> way.
>
> On the other hand, I am a clarinet tyro. What I know on this subject has
> come from the statements of others, after having passed through my
> "sensibility seive".
>
> Isn't there some masters or doctoral candidate out there who needs a good
> thesis topic, and who would like to undertake a precise and carefully
> controlled study of the expansion and contraction behavior of grenadilla
> clarinets under thermal and moisture stress???
>
> --
> - Tim Roberts, timr@-----.com

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