 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Lindt
Date: 2001-04-25 11:21
Where in my case should I put 3m anti-tarnish strips? i have a new R13 single case.
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Author: Bill
Date: 2001-04-25 12:01
Curious? Are the R-13 keys silver or nickel plated? I know the strips work for silver, but I don't know what the strips do for nickel.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-04-25 13:06
I have a block of the silver anti-tarnish cloth that I put in the top of the the case (it sort of molds itself into the fleece and does not interfere with closing the case) and I just lay the strip across the middle segment of the case that has the bell, mouthpiece and barrel. It actually rests on the mouthpiece cover. It gets a little crumpled over time but the whole system seems to work great. I wipe off the keys with a silk scarf after playing and that's about it. No tarnish or discoloration after a year and a half (I change the strip every six months per instructions) A lot of the tarnish problems have to do with individual body chemistry and the moisture on your fingertips, as well as keeping sulphur containing items out of the case (almost anything rubber). I am working on a pollutant scavenger cartridge (sulphur and other tarnish promoters) but it is not ready for "prime time" quite yet.
The Doctor
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Author: Matt Locker
Date: 2001-04-26 14:36
To the Doctor:
Do you keep your rubber mpc in a separate case? Will the rubber in a mpc cause silver keys to tarnish? Where do we get these anti-tarnish items?
Matt
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-04-26 17:41
Dear Matt,
You must know that I have been accused of tilting reality toward the ideal in a number of areas but this is just my obsessive-compulsive nature. Anyway, I'll tell you what I do and you can pick and choose what might work for you. The anti-tarnish cloth is sold by a number of companies but has the generic name of Pacific Cloth which is a felt-like material, brown in color (sometimes grey), which actually has silver dust impregnated in the cloth so that it acts as a sacrificial surrogate for your silver keywork. Many companies make little baggies in different sizes, or sell the cloth by the yard, to store your silver inside so that it does not tarnish between uses. There are several posts on where to obtain the 3-M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing) strips which are a thick black paper strip (sort of like paper money in character). They have a little area to write the date so that you can remember when to change them. I keep my mouthpiece in a custom made little silk bag with velcro closure that has been treated to make it gas impermeable and has a little inside pocket for a dessicant packet to absorb moisture and now a little packet of pollutant scavenger (new product under development) to absorb the sulpur dioxide gas given off by the vulcanized rubber. I have also installed a rubber gasket seal around the case to limit exposure to outside air. Now that I write this all down it seems way too complicated for most but the proof must be in the shiny keywork that has never seen an abrasive silver polish as yet.
The Doctor
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-04-26 18:11
I misspoke - it is a teflon-silicone gasket not rubber - not that would be silly wouldn't it!
The Doctor
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2001-04-26 21:37
Omar - I have a 7 year old Selmer 10G with silver plated keys which have never shown tarnish and have never been polished. They're just a little dull now in places. Must be something in my sweat that keeps them in good shape.
Maybe I should bottle it when I visit New Orleans in August ;^)
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-04-27 00:32
Mark-
I'll take a gallon, repackage it, call it Doctor something or another, charge an exorbitant price for it, make a mint, and then retire. After the first 1/2 pint sample you would probably times 10 the price, my vial supplier would send me ten thousand vials - quote me one price but end up billing me at 5 times the price and then when I refused he would say just ship them back to me in Timbuktu plus a $1000.00 restocking fee - the custom's people would rip me off in Timbuktu for another couple hundred, etc.., then in my stock some weird bacterium from the Timbuktu vial supplier would start to grow, ruin the stock, contaminate my production equipment, the ISO2002 folks would be by the next day for a snap inspection, there would be a postal strike, the credit card clearing company would route all my money into someone other than my bank, I would fall victim to the weird bacterium from Timbuktu, fall ill, and DIE PENNYLESS!
Seriously, all of us have a slightly different chemistry to our sweaty fingers. Sweat is one vehicle used by the body to cleanse contaminants from the body and therefore, depending on your proximity to an EPA registered toxic waste dump - you personal diet and metabolic state - etc., etc., certain people's sweat has properties (chemicals) which quickly promote tarnish on silver, eat nickel finishes and can etch glass. Mark - you must lead a very clean life! Several prominent woodwind teachers - professors have commented to me that they have students that "naturally" tarnish their keys with their sweat -- come on guys help me out here! So, I would say that the degree to which your sweat tarnishes keys is individual and is mediated by your care of the instrument and the "stuff" that you put in your case, and your own environmental content of tarnish producing gasses and chemicals in the air.
Thanks for the levity Mark - I am much too serious about all this stuff -- and will probably die pennyless!
The Doctor
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