 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-04-06 22:25
Not so much repair, as a cleaning up of my older clarinet. A René Duval clarinet from God knows when. It hasn't been used in about 30+ years. It's looking pretty nasty. I took off all the keys and separated them in two cups (upper joint/lower joint). They are getting green and white (I'm assuming this is what people mean by "tarnished"). The pads are in HORRIBLE shape as well, but I figured I may as well learn and practice some cleaning/repair skills on this clarinet.
I was wondering what is a safe thing to use to clean the keys up a bit (the nickel plating). I thought alcohol might be too rough so maybe I'll go the typical soap/water or a metal polishing compound. After I clean off all the keys, I'm going to clean off the screws that hold them, wipe down the wood, oil the bore and wood (carefully, following instructions I looked up with a search).
By the time I get all this done, it'll have been about three - four weeks with my schedule of free time and I'll have saved some money for a padding kit and I'll give it a shot at "repadding" the keys as I put them back on.
This sound ok so far? And what to clean/wipe the keys and wood with?
Alexi
PS - I know I could save the agravation and send it to a pro, however I am a VERY hands on learner and I love hands on projects like this, so I really want to try it. Plus it'll give me practice so I can apply these skills better when my own clarinet breaks or needs new pads, etc.
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2003-04-07 04:15
Tarnish dulls the appearance of the plated metal, green and white deposits sound like corosion of the base metal.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-04-07 07:03
So far it sounds like about 1/5 of a tyopical overhaul for a clarinet of god-knows what age..
Go for it. It will be a learning exercise. :-)
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-04-07 07:04
Sounds like a good way to learn. Be very meticulous and take your time. The oiling always takes longer than you first think. Levelling and seating pads correctly is something you learn with patience, likewise fitting bumper corks. Voicing the horn and adjusting the action, bridge etc , or in other words getting it to play well is the most demanding part. Dont attempt springs on your first attempt!
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Author: BobD
Date: 2003-04-07 15:44
Good for you. The green color may be from copper "underplating" corrosion. The white just may....MAY...be an indication of zinc which in turn may indicate pot metal keywork. Be careful attempting to bend any keys until you get more information. Personally I find lemon oil to be useful for a first level tarnish remover. I also use it for first level cleaning of the wood.
The bore of old horns can contain hard to remove "saliva salts" (my term) which must be removed before oiling. In extreme cases these saliva deposits might even change the pitch of the horn. Go for it!
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-04-07 16:32
Good words all around.
To answer your specific questions, here's the way I do it: Once the keys are removed, you may want to take off any flat springs. The springs and their screws are steel and the next step might bend a spring. I use a fabric wheel and polishing compound to improve key finish. With nickel or unplated nickel silver, this can take a lot of time. Silver can be polished much more quickly.
Some repair people use all kinds of weird stuff to clean the wood. I prefer wiping it with a good bore oil (Bore Doctor is my pick) on a soft cloth.
Cleaning the springs and screws can be done almost any way that works well for steel. I rub them with a stiff cloth to remove any rust. If you use water to clean any crud off steel parts, be sure to dry them quickly and completely. Use a soft cloth to give them a very light application of a light oil before reassembling the instrument. Mark is right: this is not the time to replace any round springs. Learning to do that by yourself is not simple.
As you are doing this for yourself and will not be using pads by the hundreds, forget the economy of buying cheap pads. Go for the good stuff, whatever you may think that is. Cork for the register hole? If you like. Cork on the entire UJ? If you wish. Resonators on the four large pads? Sure, if that's what you want. (I prefer Prestini leather pads.) As you invest a lot of time on this project, remember that only a small additional amount of money will give it the pads you want.
Good luck on your project. This reminds me of doing my first mini-overhaul a number of years ago. Mine went well, and so will yours.
Regards,
John
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-04-07 16:50
As for the tuning, can most of that be done with pad height? I assume (taking from my many math/physics/engineering classes of various types mixed with a little of "common knowledge") that the higher the pad, the sharper the tone will be? And I also assume that when attempting to fix the tuning through pad height, I should work from the top down to get them all "relatively" tuned to one another, and after that I should worry about proper barrel size or whether to pull out or push in. Thanks.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-04-07 21:45
".......The white [corrosion] just may....MAY...be ..........Personally I find lemon oil ...."
White tarnish is very common on nickel plating. It is difficult to remove. It is quite likely that it is caused by certain vapours, and from my experience I would certainly tentatively suspect the vapours given off by plant oils, especially as they go rancid or polymerise to a goo resembling half-set varnish. From my enquiries not much information is available (or perhaps known) about the interaction between nickel and vapours.
I know definitely from my experience that polyurethane fumes can turn nickel white overnight.
The green is similarly likely to be an interaction between an oil and the metal of the instrument. It ids common to see green around tenon rings where there has been an interaction, presumably between either copper or nickel and a cork grease, and it seems this is more common when the cork grease is animal based.
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