 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: icecoke12
Date: 2003-12-17 01:32
My clarinet turned from a reddish-brown to black and stayed that way after I oiled the instrument (both inside and on the surface of the wood).
Anyone knows why that happened? Does the brown indicate a lack of moisture in the wood or is it some chemical reaction that took place?
Thanks..
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Author: icecoke12
Date: 2003-12-17 02:03
The instrument is new and I assume that most new instruments are sufficiently oiled and that was the reason why buffet does not reccomend the need to use bore oil on its new instruments?
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-12-17 02:10
Did it darken DIRECTLY after oiling it? Or over some time after you oiled it? Cause the wood on new clarinets naturally darkens over some time.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: icecoke12
Date: 2003-12-17 02:24
I see...
But why will the wood of the clarinet darken over a few months when they are already being aged (supposedly) for quite a few years before the clarinets are being made? Does this indicate insufficient aging of the wood?
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-12-17 02:36
I'm not a doctor or know any technical aspect. Doc Henderson would probably know the process to a T. However it has something to do with exposure to the atmosphere. Yes the wood is aged, however only the outside of the wood is exposed to the atmosphere. When the clarinet is made, they use the wood that is underneath the 'skin' (not exposed to the air yet). So it looks a nice red/brown cause it's fresh. Then it darkens over time.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2003-12-17 18:27
What kind of oil did you use? (Not reclaimed crankcase oil, right?)
Regards,
John
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Author: David Oakley
Date: 2003-12-17 19:50
>>But why will the wood of the clarinet darken over a few months when they are already being aged (supposedly) for quite a few years before the clarinets are being made? Does this indicate insufficient aging of the wood?<<
I suspect that darkening of new clarinets is due to contact with air, not aging per se. While the billet was aging, the parts which would eventually be the surface of the clarinet were not in contact with air.
I have no idea whether the darkening comes from the reaction between the air and the wood, or between the air and the oil which has been placed on the wood.
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Author: icecoke12
Date: 2003-12-18 08:26
>>What kind of oil did you use? (Not reclaimed crankcase oil, right?)
I used the Doctor's bore oil... not crankcase I hope..heh..
So all clarinets turn black in the end...
Now why do some companies dye their clarinets black then...
Anyway I realise its more of exposure to the oil than to the air, as I just realised one of the spare barrels I didn't oil retained its original colour...
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2003-12-18 13:03
Each piece of wood is different but billets that are used to make the horns look uniformly deep chocolate brown to black before they are machined. After machining they appear much lighter and show more graining and some lighter streaks in the wood. The oil used to impregnate the wood - a plant derived oil - does react with atmospheric oxygen and will darken over time when in contact with the wood. These reactions are very complex, not fully understood, have different time courses, and do not mean that the preservative properties of the oil are lost, but are a natural interaction of the oil and the pigmentation in the wood. The amount of ozone in your environment, which speeds up this process, may increase this darkening effect. I got a new very light chocolate colored clarinet several years ago that darkened (without any added oil) to a very dark chocolate-black color in about two months time. The natural oil content of the wood, the density and pigmentation of the particular piece of wood, and the amount of oil impregnated into the wood at the factory all play parts. I have seen newer clarinets where the upper and lower joints are different colors or one lighter than the other after several months of post purchase aging.
The Doctor
Post Edited (2003-12-18 13:22)
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Author: KENOLD
Date: 2003-12-20 20:34
An old wooden Boosey Hawkes clarinet (~40 years old) that I bought off of ebay arrived very dry and chocolate colored. Immediately upon oiling its color turned to black.
I believe that dry wood tends to scatter light and look more like its true color and that oiling causes it to absorb more light and appear darker in color.
Ken
Learn to perform even the things you don't like, as if you love to do them.
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Author: Henry
Date: 2003-12-20 20:48
Ken...You may be onto something. It may be indeed the filling of the dry wood pores with oil that changes the apparent color (or darkness) of the wood surface as a result of changes in the reflection, absorption, and scattering of impinging light. After all, that's what you observe when a drop of water (or oil) is soaked up by any porous material, such as a brick, a piece of white paper, or a cotton napkin. In the latter cases, the chemical nature of the solid material (or the liquid) doesn't change at all but the optical properties obviously do.
Of course, the role of chemical changes in the wood and oil over the long haul cannot be ruled out.
Henry
Post Edited (2003-12-20 21:36)
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Author: Tim F
Date: 2003-12-20 23:12
I had the same experience as Ken with my 50 year old B&H Edgware. After stripping it down and a cleaning, it was a marvelous brown that showed off the grain beautifully. After oiling inside & out, it was a deep lusterous black with just a hint of the brown highlights showing through.
Tim
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Author: Clarence
Date: 2003-12-20 23:31
If you have brown spots or would like a blacker clarinet, you could get some black dye and dye it.
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