Klarinet Archive - Posting 000498.txt from 2005/03

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Edgware Clarinets
Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 16:13:30 -0500

In a message dated 3/20/2005 10:40:24 AM Central Standard Time,
suzanne@-----.com writes:
That amazed me, so I asked him why. He told me that the keys on it
were made of "pot metal" and broke very easily. Since he couldn't
repair or replace them if they broke, he wouldn't work on the clarinet.

I also had this problem with an Edgeware clarinet. It had a broken key,
which had been repaired very badly, but the parts were still there. It had been
soldered with "soft solder" such as one would use for soldering electronics.
The solder wasn't holding and indeed, could be bent easily using finger
pressure.

I quickly became aware that the heat required to use "silver solder" would
melt the key entirely.

So, I went to my "bone pile" of old broken clarinets and found a key from an
old metal clarinet that was very similar in shape and radius. Uses some
scrapers, reamers, etc. I was able to adapt this key - I believe it was the
little finger C#/G# key -- to the Edgeware clarinet.

Maybe it wasn't the most elegant repair -- but it did function, and the
client went home happy.

Walter Grabner
www.clarinetXpress.com
Clarinet mouthpieces

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