Klarinet Archive - Posting 000210.txt from 2007/07

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Clarinet Manufacture - Wood is a "Living" Material - Barrels
Date: Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:28:46 -0400

In a message dated 7/25/2007 3:57:20 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
karlkrelove@-----.net writes:
Or
is this in fact the first, maybe most important influence of the "living"
character of wood - that it somehow makes identical machining of each
separate piece impossible or at least impractical with current techniques?>>

When one makes a barrel, the process itself will cause heat. This will cause
the wood to swell. Each piece of wood will swell and then shrink at a
different rate.

A cure for this is very slow manufacture, reaming the barrels over a period
of days. Tis can only be done if you are doing the process in very small
batches, without pressure to ship IMMEDIATELY.Even then, the resulting bores will
vary due to factors of heat and humidity, as each piece of wood reacts to
the environment that it finds itself in.

Shipping cross country, to an area of greater of lesser air pressure,
relative humidity, and temperature introduces big variables. Also consider air
conditioning. How much will a given barrel change if kept indoors in a cool and
humidity controlled environment, then carried cross town to a concert in the
park?

Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
world class mouthpieces

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