 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Matt Locker
Date: 2001-06-01 11:57
Which one of these "Doctor's" products do you use for your corks? I've read the info on the website and it seems to me that they both work as grease, so what's the difference.
TIA,
Matt
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-06-01 13:02
Dear Matt and all,
Both work as lubricants. Doctor Slick is an all natural plant based product that preserves and keeps the cork supple and compressible. It is used a little less frequently than regular petroleum based cork treatments but does not have the drawbacks which I have mentioned for petroleum greases which destroy the cork cellualr structure. Doctor Syntek is a space age synthetic lubricant used by NASA for seals in aerospace applications and needs to be used only infrequently to maintain lubrication of the cork. It will not penetrate the cork cellular structure like petroleum based grease and maintains the supple and compressible nature of cork. It does not preserve the cork for as long as the natural product because it lacks the preserving natural oils, but is a choice for those that do not like to apply cork grease very often. I will leave it to others to give you their own experience and evaluation of the merits of the products.
The Doctor
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Author: Matt Locker
Date: 2001-06-01 18:52
Doctor:
Do the two products work together? ie: using the Doctor Slick occassionally to help the cork with applications of the Syntek at other times. Or is it wiser to just choose one and use it?
Thanks,
Matt
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-06-01 20:25
Dear Matt and all - the two products, Doctor Slick and Doctor Syntek, are compatible (read no further if you do not want the chemistry lesson) ... but do not form a homogeneous mixture - rather two separate elements coexisting on the cork - an emulsion (Dr. Slick is made from natural oils that have a glycerol backbone with fatty acids of various chain lengths either single bonded - so called saturated bonds or double bonded - so called unsaturated bonds while Dr. Syntek has a carbon polymer chain structure with other atoms bonded to form small linear chains). The lubrication element in Dr. Slick is an extract of oriental slippery elm bark - a natural product - while in Dr. Syntek the short polymer chains slide across each other on a micro Teflon-like PDFE molecule (like ball bearings). These are different properties that accomplish a similar lubrication action. They are not synergistic (one adding to the other's lubrication properties) and will gradually displace the other product if used exclusively. My choice would be to use either one or the other. I will always clean off one kind of lubricant using a clean piece of cotton toweling before applying the other. On new cork it may be a wise choice to impregnate the cork with Doctor Slick to get the preserving oils into the cork and then use Doctor Syntek if you only want to lubricate your cork very infrequently.
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Author: Linus Travelli
Date: 2001-06-01 22:00
how do you remove the dr syntek?
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2001-06-02 01:50
Dear Linus and all, Since Dr. Syntek does not penetrate into the core structure of the cork cells it is easy to remove with the above mentioned clean cotton toweling. If you apply just a little pressure the tufts of the towel will do a reasonable job of removing it from the nooks and crannies too. Since both products (Dr's. Slick and Syntek) are compatible, one will displace the other product over time - no harm no foul -- and simple to do. Removing all the petroleum based cork grease is almost impossible because it penetrates the cell walls of the cork, saturates the fine structure of the wall and ultimately leads to the collapse of the baloon like structure of the cork cell - then you have greasy compressed cork that will almost certainly not be compressible or rebound to make a proper seal between the cork and tenon.
The Doctor
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