 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: klook
Date: 2011-09-01 16:49
I've read a few places about using wax, parrafin, beeswax, on toneholes when using leather pads. Something about the porousness of the pads sealing better with wax.
I use leather pads alot and I have noticed that its harder to get a real perfect vacuum in the joint. For example I can repad an upper joint with cork and end up with a joint that is almost perfectly sealed, but with leather there's almost always some very small leaks that I can never get out.
So the wax idea interests me if it helps with this. I'm not sure though, do you need to melt the wax first? Parrafin is already so soft it seems you could just apply it to the tonehole. But I've never seen in writing how/what someone uses to do this, just a mention of it.
Anyone have any thoughts?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-09-01 17:24
I've only ever known of wax being used on bassoon pads by bassoon repairers but within the impression as opposed to coating the entire surface and in the impression itself. I think they use both paraffin wax and beeswax (depending which they prefer), but it doesn't come into contact with the tonehole bedplaces.
A good quality leather clarinet pad (eg. CLG, Chanu, etc.) that's waterproof coated (with a thin plastic surface coating) should be adequate, but still won't be as perfectly airtight as cork pads can be.
I don't think waxing is a good idea as it can make them sticky as well as being a pain to clean from toneholes. Beeswax will definitely be too sticky.
I only use leather pads for the four largest toneholes on the lower joint, but if a customer wants mostly leather pads, I'll still cork pad the keys covering toneholes that get the most waterlogged.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2011-09-01 18:01
I've been using standard untreated (but good quality) leather pads on all sizes of clarinets, plus oboes and even a few flutes, for many years with good results. For what it's worth.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2011-09-01 19:19
At one time, it was common to parafin wax the center area of bassoon pads. Later, the Fox company used liquid carnuba wax on their bassoon pads. Clear silicon sealant is used by some people to seal leather pad pores, being careful not to put too much on. To demonstrate how much a leather pad can leak, try putting part of a pad in your mouth and observe how much air you can blow through it.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2011-09-01 19:50
Wes, the pad on an instrument does not stand out in free air, it sits almost completely enclosed in a metal cup, with some sort of adhesive in between (frequently around the edge as well as above it). So your 'demonstration' is misleading. Instead, take off a key that has a properly-installed leather pad in the key cup, and try to blow through it (if you can).
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Author: rtmyth
Date: 2011-09-01 21:24
I used white kid leather pads on the four largest tone holes, for many years. Once adjusted , they held up very well; no waxing.
richard smith
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2011-09-01 21:53
Ditto on the white leather. This is the pad of choice throughout Germany. In fact they blanched at my Brannenized Wurlitzers with a full set of cork. Naturally they corrected this error when they took delivery of them.
................Paul Aviles
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Author: klook
Date: 2011-09-02 00:21
I fell like the most recent instance of reading about leather pads and wax (specifically paraffin and beeswax) was in a little writeup by Clark W Fobes somewhere on the internet.
I swear he talked about clarinet pads in particular, wrote about all the material choices, and when he talked about leather mentioned they sealed best with wax.
Thats why I was curious. I've had good results with leather pads overall, but I figured if I could better those results with something as simple as wax that would be cool.
I often use leather pads on all the keys except for the register key which I always use cork for.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2011-09-02 12:35
I use leather pads, with no surface treatments, when restoring old clarinets that originally had leather pads. I'm an amateur, but fwiw, my experience has been the same as David Spiegelthal's. My husband, a pro book binder who specializes in restoring antique books, keeps jars and jars of every type of leather treatment imaginable in the same workshop where I mess with clarinets, but I've never seen any need to pillage those jars.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2011-09-04 16:21
A recent thread on the Yahoo group: Instrument repair technician, discussed waxing bassoon pads to reduce leakage.
I was kinda curious about what kind of flow rate can be generated through even a large diameter pad.
On the other hand, I can almost support my life breathing through the butt end of a Bb clarinet reed.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-09-04 19:58
I thought waxing bassoon pads was to keep the centres flat (as well as stitching them) so they don't sag into the toneholes.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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