 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ianm
Date: 2006-12-19 09:15
I have a second hand selmer signature. The previous owner had the left index finger hole expanded/reammed out. I think probably to suit his setup. I find that F is now 20c plus sharp when all the other throat tones are in tune. I have read that the tone holes are inserts on this clarinet. Does anyone know of anyone in the UK who would replace this, or is this really required. I would appreciate some advice. Thanks. Ian
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-12-19 09:49
Howarth can replace the chimney with an ebonite insert (if we have the correct size cutter for this chimney), though replacing it is a bit on the extreme side and can be expensive.
The best thing to do yourself (and this will last) is clean out the tonehole with meths and a cotton bud to degrease it, then partially fill the tonehole with hard black wax applied with a hot metal rod, and then use a set of twist drills in increasing diameters (all hand held) to open the tonehole bit by bit until you get it to the right size while checking with your tuner at each stage - if you do take too much wax out, you can always fill it again.
The hard black wax cobblers use is good, and the top of the chimney can be made flat by using a blunt edge of a knife or the side of an old reed to scrape it to level out the top.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: larryb
Date: 2006-12-19 11:40
Chris,
what do you need to do to manage wax on the bore end of the tone hole? Or do you avoid any problems there by only filling partially?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-12-19 12:18
Use a metal rod around 2mm-3mm in diameter to apply the wax the entire depth of the tonehole - by heating the rod in a flame you can apply the wax with this, and get the wax to fill the tonehole right through to the bore.
Any excess that enters the bore can be pushed out with a piece of hardwood dowel so you don't scratch the bore. Provided the chimneys are wood, you won't have any worry of them melting and you can use a fairly hot steel - but take care if the chimneys are plastic or ebonite, and use beeswax or anything with a lower melting point on plastic ones.
Any wax can be removed if it goes in the wrong place, and being wax it can be added to and removed far easier than epoxy, and you don't have to wait several hours for it to harden before working on the tuning.
If the toneholes are undercut, then only fill the uppermost part above the undercutting (to a depth of 3mm to 4mm from the top), but even with straight toneholes you don't really need to coat the entire chimney to the bore as the larger diameter at the bore end will act as a crude form of undercutting
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2006-12-19 13:38
Or, cut a strip of thin sheet cork to a width just slightly shy of the tonehole chimney depth, to a length equal to the inner circumference of the tonehole; wrap it around into a cylindrical shape and carefully glue it inside the chimney to reduce the inner diameter (by twice the thickness of the cork, of course).
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Author: susieray
Date: 2006-12-19 16:48
Am I weird or wouldn't it be a lot easier to (carefully) dab clear nail polish in the tone hole??? It dries fast so you can play test the horn right away and add more if needed. If you end up with too much, a little acetone on a Q tip would take it right off.
![[happy]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smiley12.gif)
Post Edited (2006-12-19 16:48)
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2006-12-19 16:53
You're not weird at all, Sue! It's just that it takes many coats of nail polish to build up any appreciable thickness, and I sort of assumed from the original posting that the tonehole had been enlarged considerably -- thus I recommended the more 'substantial' cork idea. For subtle buildups, your concept is fine.
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Author: ianm
Date: 2006-12-19 19:10
Thanks to everyone for their helpful sugestions. I think I now know how to solve this problem. Ian
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