 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: jim lande
Date: 1999-01-18 03:34
I have restored a couple of the Bb metal clarinets and in so doing have taken out several leather pads. I decided to try leather pads on my current project, which is a metal Noblet. I started out buying the 100 pad white kit assortment from Ferrees, which is intended for saxes. No pads below 9 ½ mm. So I bought a dozen pads in each size 7mm up to 12 mm and figured the 100 pad assortment would carry me above that. I used 8 of the 9mm on the Noblet. I never paid any attention to sizes in the past. So now I have something like $75 worth of leather pads and cannot do another Bb clarinet. Obviously, I am going to order more 9 ½ mm pads. I also used 3 16mm pads.
You repair folks: what are the other sizes you end up ordering frequently?.
Oh, the Noblet sounds at least as good as the Bundy I repadded last fall. My son is using a metal Noblet at school that somebody else repadded with fish skin pads. I will have to get him to bring it home so I can compare. I suspect my son will be willing. He mentioned that his case is shedding pieces -- the handle, a chunk from the end, etc. Well, I knew he was a kid when I sent him off to school and frankly, the case was already pretty well shot. So, this will cost me a case. Oh well.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Lelia
Date: 1999-01-18 18:21
I've been using more 9 and 10 mm than anything else, and am ordering those two dozen at a time now. Next come 11, 16 and 17 mm which I'm ordering by the dozen. (A dozen of those will do for about 4 Bb clarinets.) I usually need one or two 8 and 12mm per clarinet and often need one 13, 14 or 15 mm; I order these by the dozen but figure that they'll last awhile. I'm finding that a pad that's a half-millimeter too small works fine, so I'm only ordering in whole sizes, although if I start repairing a lot of clarinets, I'll order the half sizes 9-1/2, 10-/2 and 16-1/2 to start with. So far, I haven't needed anything larger than 17 mm or smaller than 8 mm.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Rick2
Date: 1999-01-19 03:55
Can't you cut those sax pads down?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: jim lande
Date: 1999-01-20 04:56
Well, yes. You could peal the leather off, then cut the cardboard and felt to size, then cut the leather to be a few mm larger than the cardboard and then sew the leather back around the felt and cardboard and thus arrive at smaller pads.
I did once try to make pads, but I started with kit leather that was, perhaps, a little too thick and sewed the pad, perhaps, a little too tight. It took about a half hour per pad and many of the pads didn't work well.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
