 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: moose6589
Date: 2003-06-17 21:08
What brand cork grease would you recommend for a reasonable price? I currently use the generic chapstick cork grease, but I'm assumming right now that anything generic can't be all that great for the clarinet. Are there any better choices that will not harm the cork or just work better?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-06-17 21:30
Click on 'Equipment' at the top of the screen, then 'Accessories' , then 'The Doctor's Products'.
There is general agreement here that his greases are both vastly superior. They cost little more but there is just no comparison with the chapstick products, which actually damage cork.
If you do a search in this forum you will find many posts supporting Doctor's Products.
Probably the only other grease of worth is similar - 'Alisyn' - but is sold by few outlets because the quest for profits triumphs over attention to stocking quality.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: BobD
Date: 2003-06-17 23:01
A very controversial subject. Dr's products are very highly rated.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2003-06-18 00:37
Gordon (NZ) wrote:
> Click on 'Equipment' at the top of the screen, then
> 'Accessories' , then 'The Doctor's Products'.
Accessories is always on the right ... the order of the blocks on the right changes with each page refresh so no one is left out of top position.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Morrigan
Date: 2003-06-18 01:18
DEFINITELY use the Doc's cork grease - Gordon is right, it is VASTLY superior.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Webby
Date: 2003-06-18 04:02
I would advise against Muncy's cork grease (their own brand name). It was completely useless---it just gooped up and got pushed out of the way when I tried to twist the joints together. It's also got glittery stuff in it that I didn't think seemed like a good thing!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tim K
Date: 2003-06-18 14:29
Both of The Doctor's products are great. The synthetic is actually a screaming bargain. I expect to use up my first purchase in three or four years. That stuff really lasts.
Post Edited (2003-06-18 15:12)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: BobD
Date: 2003-06-18 14:51
Hard to believe that Muncy would sell a product that was no good
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Clarence
Date: 2003-06-18 19:10
I used chap stick for a long time. In fact the corks outlasted the bladder pads on the instrument. Now I only use 'Micro Brand' cork grease. Other brands may be just as effective. If it works, use it.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2003-06-18 19:28
I've always used rendered Yak fat for cork grease, but it's getting so hard to find good Yaks nowadays, and travel to Tibet has gotten difficult too.....so instead I would also recommend the Doctor's cork lubricants -- I've tried both the 'regular' and the synthetic types and they're both superior to the usual commercial stuff.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Webby
Date: 2003-06-18 22:13
BobD,
That's what I thought, too, but alas. Pretty gross.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-06-18 23:45
You can make your own. The most important ingredient is anhydrous wool fat which is industrial/pharmaceutical grade of lanolin. Because it is anhydrous it is without water. All you need to do is make it more emollient. The addition of a lighter grade oil and possibly a little water and "bob's your uncle". You could alternatively buy in bulk Alisyn, Roche Thomas and the bulk container available from Allied. Why not support our sponsor "the Doctor". Likewise key oil, bore oil, valve oil is all available in bulk but tastes aweful.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-06-19 00:16
I used to make my own - 1/4 to 1/3 (depending on whether winter or summer use!) beeswax and the rest vaseline. This was far better than micro, chapstick, etc, but nowhere near as good as Alisyn and Doctors Products.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: BobD
Date: 2003-06-19 10:54
Many long years ago the little flat cans of cork grease had a distinctive smell that I really liked, not perfumy, just different. I wonder what gave it that smell. In recent years the only clarinet product I've run into that smells good is Selmer key oil. Forget the bubble-gum smells. I guess my opinion is that anything that assists in assembly and disassembly is better than a cracked tenon and anyone who really wants to take the time to learn can recork tenons quite easily.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Roger Aldridge
Date: 2003-06-19 13:11
I use pure lanolin. This is something that Ralph Morgan recommended to me a couple of years ago. Just a very little bit works wonderfully. Thus, a tube from the drug store will last a long time.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2003-06-19 15:04
(Disclaimer - I sell a plant derived and synthetic cork grease) We have had some discussions on lanolin on the BB - see threads. Lanolin, an animal derived fat, is not good for the cork in the long run. Animal fats historically, and scientifically, are not good wood-cork preservatives and never used on wood artifacts in museums. The qualities of lanolin in cosmetics (for human skin) and its rheology (slippery feel) allow it to work as an emolient, moisturizer, and lubricant on animal tissue. It will act as a lubricant on cork but the animal fat will infiltrate the cork cell walls and cause them to collapse and loose compressibility over time (Note - I have never tested Yak fat). Plant derived oils and waxes will preserve wood-cork, and synthetic lubricants that do not infiltrate cork cell walls will maintain the cork cell wall integrity and natural ability to compress and rebound (from my own experimentation).
The Doctor
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
