Klarinet Archive - Posting 000333.txt from 2002/12

From: Jeremy A Schiffer <schiffer@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] WOO HOO!
Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 11:01:20 -0500

Exactly; this is what I was getting at in my last post, though that may
not have been clear. If the clarinet is cold to the touch, you want to
wait until the wood and the metal are at room temperature before you start
blowing into it. It's not just the wood expanding and contracting, but the
metal posts placed in the wood doing the same thing. As Leslie stated
quite well.

-jeremy

On Fri, 13 Dec 2002, Leslie Schultz wrote:

> I'm certainly not an expert in this field, but from what I understand, it
> also has much to do with how the wood interacts with the different
> components of the clarinet (metal tenons, keys, etc.). It is true that wood
> has a very low rate of thermal expansion and clarinet made entirely of wood
> without metal or plastic pieces integrated into it would probably be
> relatively stable. However, wood expands at a much slower rate than metal,
> and when metal rods expand and contract, this stress will frequently crack
> the wood, regardless of its coefficient of thermal expansion. This is why
> most cracks you will see are between two metal posts. I hope this is
> helpful.
>
> > Actually if you calculate the forces generated in wood by thermal
> expansion
> > and contraction, they are insufficient to crack the wood unless of course
> > the wood has an unseen flaw. In which case it will crack sooner or later
> > regardless of the thermal effects.

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