Klarinet Archive - Posting 000125.txt from 2002/03

From: clarinetbob@-----.com
Subj: RE: Re: [kl] barrel removal
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 10:25:19 -0500

I can back you up on this method!! On several occassions I have rushed off, late to a rehearsal only to find that my barrel (having been on my horn for maybe a day or two without removal -- practicing) won't come off the top joint. Hopping in the car I turn on the AC, hold the horn up to the vent and let cool air blow through the inside of the horn. After a few minutes, the barrel pops off the top joint rather easily. I then take extra care to warm up the barrel and top joint slowly.

I have also used the method of wrapping the stuck joints in a towel and placing them in the freezer for a heavily-monitored short amount of time to contract the wood slightly and pull apart the joints. It seems to me that cold has a more beneficial effect for unsticking stuck joints than heat.

Bob

JMarioneau@-----.com wrote:

>Once I had a student's barrel stuck, so I swabbed the instrument and then held the stuck barrel and top joint in front of my car air conditioner so the air would blow through the instrument as I was driving home. When I got home (about twenty minutes later), the barrel came right off. I don't know if that was the best thing to do, but the method behind my madness was that the air conditioner not only cools, but it also dehumidifies. I was hoping that maybe dryer air than we have here in the Houston area would help shrink the wood enough to where the barrel would come off. I am not sure if my reasoning was sound or not or if it was the right thing to do, but it worked.
>James Marioneaux
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