Klarinet Archive - Posting 000111.txt from 2004/01

From: "Keith" <100012.1302@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Cracks, cracks
Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2004 11:52:37 -0500

The warming that Sue mentions is one factor, but a bigger one is =
moisture.
An illustration is that the huge stones for the Egyptian pyramids were =
split
by forcing wedges of wood into small cracks then soaking the wood with
water. OK it was a different wood and the clarinet woods are less =
permeable,
but a warm wet clarinet will definitely be trying to expand from the =
inside
and exterting quite large forces.=20

This has no counterpart in a violin. In the violin, it is important to
preserve the vibration characteristics of the wooden parts, which as =
Tony
and others point out is a second order effect on the clarinet (not zero
effect, but small). So the aim on the violin is to make the repair =
strong
enough to stand the forces of the strings without altering the vibration
characteristics. Since glues are in general at least as strong as the =
woods
used in string instruments, wood/glue repairs are ideal in that case.=20

Clarinets have bigger crack-opening forces and the preservation of the =
bore
shape to a fraction of a millimetre is also most important. I would =
support
the pinners over the supergluers.

I am very interested in the carbon fiber banding method, which also =
seems
appropriate. Anyone know where suitable supplies can be had?

Keith Bowen
<not a pro repairman, but a materials science professor>

---------------------------------
Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2004 13:39:01 -0800
To: <klarinet@-----.org>
From: "Sue Raycraft" <raycraft@-----.com>
Subject: Re: [kl] Cracks, cracks
Message-ID: <000401c3d242$0185b440$70301c40@x>

>Frank,
>I think a clarinet is different than a violin, because it is being =
warmed
the inside and is trying to expand...it's a pretty strong force and it =
can
force the crack to open up again if it is just glued. I am doing a lousy
job of explaining this but I am sure someone else will say the same =
thing
in a better way!
Sue<who is NOT an expert by any means>

>> Due to my cracking incident, I decided to read some old posts on the
topic. Most said pinning is the way to go. Then I thought of this... =
if a
violin repairman/maker uses GLUE to fix a cracked surface of a good
instrument that costs anywhere between $18,000 and $2,000,000, why not =
use
glue on a $1,800 clarinet?

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