Klarinet Archive - Posting 000199.txt from 2007/10

From: X-BakerBotts-MailScanner-tom.henson@-----.com
Subj: RE: [kl] New Product for Oiling Grenadilla Wood
Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2007 14:27:56 -0400

There are a few more thoughts that I had about oiling a clarinet.

1). Dr. Henderson never claimed that using his oil would prevent
cracking. I don't see that mentioned anywhere in his comments or
advertising.
2). No bore oil in the world can make a beat up old clunker into an
incredible playing clarinet.
3). There is no magic bullet, get over it.
4). You clarinet must be in perfect mechanical condition in order to
know if using oil has helped or not.
5). Older clarinets would probably benefit more from oiling than a newer
clarinet simply because more oil has been lost over time.

I think part of the confusion that has come up about the need to oil a
clarinet is caused in part from the claims by those selling the oil that
it will help prevent the instrument from cracking. While I can not speak
for Dr. Henderson on what his opinion is about Grenad-Oil helping to
prevent cracking, I think we should stop using this as the main reason
for oiling period.

I am not sure there is enough scientific evidence to support this claim
anyhow. If we go back to what Dr. Henderson said about the oil being the
exchange agent that holds and releases the moisture in the wood, then
there are two claims that I think could be made.

1). It is a good thing to maintain a proper moisture balance in the wood
and using the right oil will allow the instrument to perform and sound
it's best.
2). It improves the beauty of the wood.

You may also be able to claim that wood with the proper moisture balance
will be better able to handle the stresses caused by changes in the
external atmosphere around it, but that may be an assumption unless you
can test it.

Regarding the Mazzeo clarinet that cracked on George Huba, I have to ask
these questions:

1). What kind of climate was the clarinet stored in.
2). What kind of climate was it shipped to.
3). Is one of these climates different than the other.
4). Did you play the clarinet when you got it, or did you let it sit a
week and allow it to acclimate to the new climate.

I believe that the accepted understanding of why a clarinet cracks has
to do with rapid or radical changes in humidity and/or temperature to
the wood. If this instrument was subjected to any of these factors, then
I think you would need to accept that this may be the reason it cracked.

Coating the wood with oil does nothing to prevent rapid temperature
change at all. I have shipped many clarinets over the world and used
FedEx quite a bit and have never had a single clarinet crack. I have
packed them in such as way that they are as insulated as is possible,
but this does increase the size of the box and the cost to ship it. On
those clarinets that have been shipped to me by FedEx, I have found when
the box is first delivered to me and I unpack everything that the case
and instrument are generally quite cold compared to the ambient
temperature. I always let the clarinet sit for a week before trying to
play on it to make sure it adjusts to the new climate with as little
stress as possible. I also try to bring it up to room temperature as
slowly as possible.

Tom Henson

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