Klarinet Archive - Posting 000132.txt from 2003/08

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Pulling out at the middle joint
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2003 09:34:34 -0400

Clark Fobes wrote,
> Not only is pulling at the middle joint of the clarinet
>a GOOD idea I think it is a must for most Buffet R-13
>clarinets. Due to the tuning parameters that Buffet has
>chosen and the rather large diameter of the C-C#-D tone
>holes in the clarion register these tones are sharp.
>
>However, I believe that one MUST use rings.
[snip]
>The outside tuning ring is easy to make from 1/32 cork
>or Valentino synthetic cork. I glue it with contact cement.
[snip]
>I have glued the tuning rings in as a permanent part of both
>my A and Bb clarinet.

Caveat: I'm an amateur, not a professional repair person. I probably
shouldn't question advice from Clark Fobes. Still, the idea of permanently
glueing in tuning rings concerns me a little bit. Doesn't the thickness
of tuning ring that works best change with the weather? It's not clear to
me whether you used contact cement only to laminate pieces of sheet cork
(the kind sold for tenons) to the correct thickness for the rings, or
whether you also used contact cement to glue the rings to the clarinet. I
don't have any quibble with using contact cement to glue sheet cork
together, but I'm not so comfortable about using contact cement to glue the
finished tuning bands to the clarinet.

I've no doubt that contact cement *works* as well on the rings as it does
on tenon corks. My concern is that, once you've used contact cement on
wood, it may not be a reversible decision. You're probably committing
yourself to keeping some sort of tuning ring on there for the life of the
clarinet. It's difficult to remove all the residue of contact cement from
the wood if, for instance, a clarinet player moves to a different climate,
and needs to take out the tuning ring and not replace it with a new one.

In theory, acetone removes contact cement. In practice, it doesn't do a
good job on thoroughly dried contact cement adhered to wood. (Digression:
BTW, acetone fumes are toxic. I use nail polish remover, which contains
very diluted acetone, to remove glue residue from my fingers. I use pure
acetone with a mask and gloves, as little as possible, and almost never on
tenons. Instead, I use a soft metal tool Ferree's sells for peeling the
old corks with their glue off the wood.) The difficulty of completely
removing contact cement from wood doesn't matter on tenon corks, because
we're always replacing those with new corks and the new glue easily
incorporates the slight residue of old glue that stays behind on the wood
tenon--but I don't think I've ever gone right down to clean, bare wood on
one of those jobs. That would involve sanding--and sanding would change
the contour of the tenon. I'd trust Clark Fobes with a job like that, but
I wouldn't trust me. Leaving glue residue where the tuning band had been
would cause trouble, too, because the intermittant raised streaks or beads
of glue would create air gaps. As long as I'm doing my own work, no
contact cement on my tuning rings.

Lelia Loban
E-mail: lelialoban@-----.net
Web site (original music scores as audio or print-out):
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/LeliaLoban

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