 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: markeymark
Date: 2004-01-13 05:35
Hello to all.
I am an hobby clarinet fixer - and an occasional player.
I have a 2 part question for all:
Firstly, I received a plastic/ebonite/non-wood clarinet. The PBS was "watermarked" and turned a grey/green color. Does anyone know any tricks to restore it to black besides magic marker?
Secondly - I have filled cracks - but have not "pinned" them. Does anyone do that anymore? What is the process? Where do you buy crackpins - I mean nobody makes screws that small do they? Is there a "pin supplier"?
I thanks you all in advance for your help.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-01-13 09:53
Some (it seems not all) ebonite mouthpieces return to black with a soaking in bleach of all things. But I don't know what this would do to the metal posts on a body.
Pinning is still a standard procedure. However a new process involving turning a groove around the body, wrapping with carbon fibre thread, and then filling, is now sometimes used.)
For pinning, holes are drilled through the body across the crack, at say 3/4 to 1" intervals, such that the hole crosses the crack about 1/2 way through the wall thickness. Some guys assert that the pins should be at an angle to the crack. This, of course, depends on how much the thread can be relied upon to grip. Choosing the right diameter drill to match the particular drill rod is critical.
Then threaded pins are screwed through the holes, and one of several methods used to make sure the pin after it is broken off, does not protrude beyond the timber. Some guys screw it in hot. I make a thread cutting end on the rod.
Finally, both ends of the hole (or one end if the hole is blind, as some repairers use), and also the split, are filled to match the body. Filling materials include black shellac (rather outdated) pigmented epoxy, or (more recently)grenadilla powder and super-glue (needs technique to match the glue viscosity) are used. It is the cosmetic finishing that takes the time.
Several repair gear suppliers, including Ferrees, sell various thicknesses of pinning rod. I prefer Kraus's stainless steel rod which is quite a lot thinner than Ferrees thick one, and I think stronger than Ferrees thinner one. They also sell black epoxy (I pigment my own with manganese dioxide paint pigment) and the grenadilla powder.
As with most jobs, it is the detail that makes the job tricky to do well.
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Author: LeWhite
Date: 2004-01-13 10:37
That sounds rather gory, I cringed several times whilst reading it - I hope that never has to be done with any of my instruments!
Sounds very difficult though.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2004-01-13 14:42
I have to admit that the standard threaded rod repair technique sounds scary. For openers, drilling tangent holes on a curved surface without hitting the bore has to be tricky. The other side of the coin is praying that restricting the wood movement in one location doesn't cause it to open up somewhere else. We don't usually hear about the pinned horns that subsequently crack elsewhere. As my Dad used to say about his amateur surgery on roosters..." I lost a lot of patients during my initial attempts.."(to caponize them).
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2004-01-13 15:46
Caponization only happens to careless pinners.
(It is not recommended to hold the wood body in your lap, whilst drilling.)
********
If the technique may be extrapolated, is this how E-flat clarinets are made?
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Author: Wendy
Date: 2004-01-13 16:28
LeWhite said:
"That sounds rather gory, I cringed several times whilst reading it - I hope that never has to be done with any of my instruments!"
Mine is "under the knife (drill)" even as I read this thread! But I trust the surgeon completely. It is a 1967 R13 that I bought with no cracks about 2 years ago. After 36 years it developed a couple surface cracks this summer that only needed to be filled. And now this one from the register vent up (and maybe below, haven't heard yet) that needs pinning. So that blows the theory of buying an older horn that would have cracked already if it were going to. I'm fairly certain though that it's been used more in the last 2 years than the first 30+!
Anyway, I'm just praying that it comes through surgery OK! I need it to be in pristine condition to try out the Greg Smith mouthpieces coming my way in about 2 weeks!
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Author: ron b
Date: 2004-01-13 18:39
In the hands of even a semi-skilled crack pinner, the success rate should be near the one hundred percent mark. Pins, properly installed, will stabilize the crack. The rest, cosmetic finishing, as Gordon says, is where true artistry comes into play. A well done repair will be invisible to the naked eye.
I know a tech whose customer went the the extreme of having the instrument X-rayed because he didn't believe the flawless result. The customer apologized, of course, when the pins showed up bright and clear on the X-ray!
Most techs I know aim for that. Not the apology; the 'flawless' finish.
- r![[cool]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/cool.gif) n b -
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-01-13 19:44
Quote:
I'm fairly certain though that it's been used more in the last 2 years than the first 30+! Maybe that's why? Maybe it could be a climate/humidity change? Could be a bunch of things. But remember that posters always state that if it's used it's "less prone" to crackin.
Quote:
I need it to be in pristine condition to try out the Greg Smith mouthpieces coming my way in about 2 weeks! What a coincidence. I myself have a few Greg Smiths coming to me at around the same time (i was told around late january). Hold onto those 3.75 gonzalez FOF reeds because you might need them to test out the Greg Smiths. I'm holding onto mine for that sole purpose (I don't use them otherwise).
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: leonardA
Date: 2004-01-13 21:05
I had a crack repaired by a tech and the pin broke off so it protrudes slightly beyond the surface. Can anything be done to remedy this condition, i.e., to get the top of the pin below the surface so that it can be covered and not show?
Leonard
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-01-13 23:15
Gordon, ever thought of going into orthodontics?
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Author: ron b
Date: 2004-01-13 23:57
Well, Leonard... things happen and that's the kind of thing most techs hope won't. But, it does occasionally - even to the best techs in the land :|
**Under no circumstance should one attempt to drill out a pin.**
Voice of (some) experience: There may be other methods as good or better than what I do.
First, clamp the instrument securely so it will not move. I have a home made jig just to immobilize clarinet joints. Then use a flex shaft tool to (very carefully) remove, grind, enough metal so it's below the surrounding surface. Then fill and dress it to match the rest of the instrument body.
- ron b -
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-01-14 00:20
"I had a crack repaired by a tech and the pin broke off so it protrudes slightly beyond the surface. Can anything be done to remedy this condition, i.e., to get the top of the pin below the surface so that it can be covered and not show?"
I use my dentist drill with a small burr (say No.3 'inverted cone'), and chew away at the metal until it is below the surface. You could use a dremel instead of a dentist drill.
"Gordon, ever thought of going into orthodontics?"
No. But if I had my time again I would consider being a dental technician. Pay on a par with a dentist, skills not dissimilar to instrument repairer, but without the patient distress.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2004-01-14 00:34
If the instrument has turned a greenish color, then it is hard rubber not plastic. This was quite popular for awhile.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-01-14 01:38
From Websters: Plastic: "any of numerous organic synthetic or processed materials that are mostly thermoplastic or thermosetting polymers of high molecular weight and that can be made into objects, films, or filaments"
Hard rubber fits the description perfectly.
What is your definition of a plastic, such that it excludes hard rubber?
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Author: Vytas
Date: 2004-01-14 03:27
'Some (it seems not all) ebonite mouthpieces return to black with a soaking in bleach of all things. But I don't know what this would do to the metal posts on a body'.
I wouldn't do that. Just drop a blued spring in bleach solution and pretty soon you'll find out what am I talking about. 'Nickel-silver' posts will be fine.
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2004-01-14 07:35
"...... if I had my time again I would consider being a dental technician. Pay on a par with a dentist, skills not dissimilar to instrument repairer, but without the patient distress. "
It is weird. I am an instrument repairer and my father recently retired from his practice as a dental technician/prosthetist. I wouldn't necessarily recommend either as a career, neither are stress free!
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