 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: cujo
Date: 2004-03-03 16:45
Besides the store bought kind of feeler gauge material does anyone use anything else? And any ideas on what the advantages and disadvantages would be with different material.
An old cassette tape and ciggarette paper is what I use for 2 different sizes. I also tried stretching a thin plastic bag to make smaller ones but it didnt seem to work well.
Glued tapered bits to a long, flimsy flat spring and for more precise measurements I have bits glued to the thinnest guitar string.
Anyone have other ideas for this kind work. Would be interesting.
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Author: chicagoclar
Date: 2004-03-03 17:03
I've also used the wrapping around cigarette packages and around reed boxes. In our repair class, our teacher provided small pieces of some foily kind of paper. We split small wooden dowels and slipped the paper into the crack then tied it up like an oboe reed. The benefit to the foil was that you could see it better. The clear substances were harder to deal with, but worked just as well.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2004-03-03 18:57
It's to make sure that the pad is properly seated. You place it under one side of the pad, close the tone hole, then pull the feeler gauge out. Then you put it under the same pad 90 degrees from where you started, pull, and hope that the resistance from pulling is about the same. If it's the same all the way around, the pad was installed impeccably well.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-03-03 19:52
I think what cujo is describing are gauges for measuring mouthpieces. There are leaf gauges, in 0.001" increments, available in auto supply stores, designed for measuring spark plug gaps. However, even with gauges, I've ruined every mouthpiece I've tried to work on, so I leave it to people who know what they're doing.
For pad testers, one repairman I know would cut a cigarette paper in half and then into 1/8" strips, which he would attach with melted shellac to the ends of thin wood matchsticks. He said that gave him the most sensitive feel. He spent an hour a week making them.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-03-03 20:53
I think not, Ken. After all, he wrote "An old cassette tape and cigarette paper is what I use ...."
I use an A4 sheet that was given to me by a classroom student, years ago, and cut strips. I think it is 'mylar', which is good because of its rigidity. I improve its sensitivity to resistance by sand-papering the surface slightly rough before cutting strips. After all we are detecting degree of 'grab' - friction - rather than gaps.
The thickness is significant. What I use is 0.02 mm thick. I have tried various product half this thickness, but they are just too thin and unwieldy.
If I was stuck, I would use cellophane - such as the outer of cigarette packets.
I have a specialised tool which holds strips between a pair of tiny, pointed jaws which are collet tightened. I'm not sure where it came from - possibly Ferrees or another trade supplier.
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Author: cujo
Date: 2004-03-03 20:53
Ken you will need a mouthpiece facing kit with the proper glass piece for measurements. The leaf gauges are pretty much the same for a car as MP refacing but are not used for spark plugs, those are used for measuring tolerances when rebuilding engines and other things.
Well anyway I was talking about seating and floating pads. I have used small wooden dowels and coffee stir sticks but the added weight/mass does not give as precise measurements.
I tried out the ciggarette wrapper and it works very well. I will use it for my first round of measuring as it is a bit thicker than cassette tape. It is also about the same thinkness as cigarette paper but with out worry of water and of course plastic is much more durable than paper.
I tried many things for feeler holders but contact cementing old E Strings off guitars with a little slab of cassette tape works best for me.
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Author: Burt
Date: 2004-03-03 22:49
I used to use feeler gauges when checking the points on my car. Do they use points in any vehicles any more?
I still have the gauges and use them to compare mouthpieces. Comparing is a non-destructive test, which means that I can risk doing it.
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Author: John Morton
Date: 2004-03-03 23:25
I like the plastic feeler gauge stock which comes in colors coded for thickness. Silver is .0005", amber is .001", purple is .0015", red is .002" etc. up to .030". It won't dull your scissors when you cut it up. I use stainless and brass feelers too, but it seems that someone has always cut off the spot that has the thickness marked!
To hold a feeler strip or a tiny piece for assembly I sometimes grip it with tweezers, then slip a tiny O-ring over the tweezer grip to hold it closed. To make sure it might be well to back this up with a drop of superglue.
John Morton
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2004-03-04 02:14
If you want a whole lot of other other possible materials and thicknesses, ask your dentist. He has a whole range for determining if and where upper teeth touch lower teeth.
Regarding thickness: As long as the feeler is quite thin, then thickness is not relevant. We are not measuring a GAP, but rather the extent of the DRAG, as the feeler is withdrawn. The accuracy is determined (for the normally open keys) by the skill of the operator in closing the key with the same (very light) pressure every time the key is closed on the feeler.
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2004-03-04 05:24
Cars have been "pointless" since the mid-1970s. Now, most are also "distributorless" as well.
Auto techs use 2 kinds of feeler gauges, those for spark plugs have wire ends and are more accurate on used plugs due to irregularities. The above posts describe leaf type gauges which were used for points, setting valve clearances, checking ring gap etc. Mechanics use brass and plastic gauges when non-magnetic properties are important such as for setting magneto rotor to stator clearance, a steel gauge would never be able to be removed.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2004-03-04 16:26
Very interesting, helpful discussion of both measurements. To try to check the facing "length" on my bass cl Selmer C* mp vs Pomaricos, I hunted for the thinnest paper/plastic film I had available. I found that the carbon paper sheets in my used bank checks [EBAY purchases, no less!] worked well but tore easily. I inserted them between dry reed and mp, marking the mp tip location, removing and measuring mm's, feeling this was accurate to about +/- 1 mm! Close enough for jazz?? Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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