 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-08-18 12:48
Good to see someone else does this.
I've always advised people to turn the screw anticlockwise until they hear or feel it click before screwing it in so they don't cross thread it.
Should also be done with valve caps on brass instruments to avoid cross threading.
Same with hip flasks. I was doing this with a flask a few weeks back when the others said 'you're turning it the wrong way'. I said, 'I know - I'm doing it like this so I don't cross thread it. Turn it anticlockwise until it clicks and then tighten it up and you won't cross thread it'.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-08-18 13:14
I learned this when I was a kid after an accident with a poorly tightened bottle of orange juice.
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Author: NorbertTheParrot
Date: 2008-08-18 13:55
I learned this when I was a kid after an accident with a poorly tightened hip-flask.
Only joking.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-08-18 14:34
Same applies with spark plugs (or glow plugs for those with diesel cars), oil filters, old camera lenses, etc. where there's a fine thread or soft alloys involved.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2008-08-18 14:46
Same applies for any type of threaded cylindrical object. It's just "best practice" to do this everywhere.
--
Ben
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Author: BobD
Date: 2008-08-18 14:52
Norbert.....love it.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-08-18 15:05
A friend of mine took a whisky-filled hipflask into school with him, it was a glass one with a metal cover. He didn't cross thread the stopper but the flask got smashed while in his schoolbag spilling the contents over his books. But his cigarettes were spared.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2008-08-18 20:36
I haven't had "flask problems" for quite a while, but I go by "if it ain't easy, don't force it". Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2008-08-18 21:13
Just a couple of cautions.
1. In the video, Tom pulls out the screw rod with a "pair of common pliers". Common pliers, to most people, means ones with serrated jaws. I have seen many, many screw rods which have the end nastily damage by the serrations, or indeed, the jaws of side-cutters used to pull screw rods out.
If the damaged metal ends up only inside the post, then it chews metal from that vital area. If they contact the barrel of the key, they jam the action of the key.
For this, NEVER use pliers with serrations on the jaws. Technicians use pliers for sure, but they always have smooth jaws.
2. The click system is not fail-safe... It sometimes happens that, when putting in a screw after the "click", the thread jams. Presumably the thread was previously 'cross-threaded', or perhaps the post was mistakenly threaded twice by the manufacturer, producing a double helix, with one helix distorted. To unjam it, unscrew past the first click and on to a second click, perhaps 180 degrees rotation from the first. Then turn the screw home.
When servicing a woodwind instrument, there are typically dozens if not hundreds of operations, so the chance of one of them not going as expected is significant. DIY is fine, providing you recognise these occasions, and know what to do about it; and KNOW when to stop and take it to a technician. For those DIY-ers who use serrated-jaw pliers, that is before they start!
BTW, some screws just don't seem to have a conspicuous "click". Perhaps that is when the threads are a slightly firm fit.
Post Edited (2008-08-18 21:16)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-08-18 21:24
Even when using smooth jawed pliers, grip the protruding tip of the screw with the pliers held perpendicular to the screw rather than gripping the tip with the pliers held end on as this can squeeze the screw head.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2008-08-18 21:52
I usually put a bit of a folded postcard between the pliers' jaws and the object.
No, I won't tell you the origin of the best postcards. Nor how I break them in. ![[tongue]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie6.gif)
--
Ben
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-08-19 00:20
Adding to Gordon's post- The strange thing is that it doesn't look like he is using "common pliers".
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-08-19 00:23
I’ve been screwing for many years now, my clarinet of course, and I’ve never needed to lubricate it first. On the other hand, my clarinet has been screwing me for as many years too. I say, when it comes to playing the clarinet, screwing around can be lots of fun. Are we talking about the same thing? ESP
www.peabody.jhu.edu/457 A little Mozart, no screwing around either.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2008-08-19 00:59
"Even when using smooth jawed pliers, grip the protruding tip of the screw with the pliers held perpendicular to the screw rather than gripping the tip with the pliers held end on as this can squeeze the screw head."
True, and for added safety from damage if there is not much rod showing, grip with a plier jaw at each END of the slot, rather than in a manner that may squeeze the slot closed.
There always seems more to any issue than meets the eye.
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2008-08-19 03:44
If the rod is completely unscrewed but little of the slotted end is showing, is there reason not to push the rod out from the other end (e.g., with a paper clip) until enough shows that the pliers can grip below the slot?
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2008-08-19 07:18
>> If the rod is completely unscrewed but little of the slotted
>> end is showing, is there reason not to push the rod out
>> from the other end (e.g., with a paper clip) until enough
>> shows that the pliers can grip below the slot?
I don't think so, but sometimes it's just something extra and unecessary, since even with just a bit of the screw head showing it's still possible to grab it with flat nose pliers without ruining anything (just be careful). So if you think you might ruin something, your suggestion is good. But sometimes it's impossible like in the left pinky levers.
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2008-08-19 12:31
Stores that sell jewelry-making supplies to hobbyists (Pearl, Michael's, Moore's, etc.) sell small, flat-nosed pliers with plastic jaws. If you can't find those, hardware stores sell a can of red plastic dip (sludgy texture that dries firm) for putting protective coatings on metal tool surfaces. For someone who only wants to coat small pliers for use on clarinets, that can of dip is nine lives' worth, so see if a neighbor already has some!
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2008-08-19 13:46
Brass padded jawed pliers are available. I'm of the belief that maybe the YouTube clips that billyboy is posting are "Director's Cuts" from the ATG DVD. TR is not a wasteful person and also is the Bob Newhart of the clarinet gang.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-08-19 14:26
With all do respect to everyone that knows best how to take a screw out of a clarinet and put it back I must say this. Before I saw Toms video on the proper way to do this I must have taken out and put back a clarinet screw at least a thousand times on my 40 year old set of Buffets, Eb and Selmer bass as well as many, many times for students. I’ve taken my clarinets apart dozens of times. In my over fifty years of playing clarinet I’ve never striped or even heard of anyone striping a screw or screw joint on a clarinet. I guess ignorance is bliss. ESP www.peabody.jhu.edu/457 A little Mozart
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-08-19 14:36
What may be common sense to some people may be an eye-opener to others.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-08-19 14:47
Ed- "With all do respect to everyone that knows best how to take a screw out of a clarinet and put it back I must say this. Before I saw Toms video on the proper way to do this I must have taken out and put back a clarinet screw at least a thousand times on my 40 year old set of Buffets, Eb and Selmer bass as well as many, many times for students. I’ve taken my clarinets apart dozens of times. In my over fifty years of playing clarinet I’ve never striped or even heard of anyone striping a screw or screw joint on a clarinet."
-
But have you had any problems with a hip-flask or orange juice? ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif)
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Author: BobD
Date: 2008-08-19 17:57
.....and Common Sense isn't always trustworthy. I can't tell what direction clockwise is on my digital watch.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2008-08-19 20:10
SkyG, now we're getting personal. I think we should stop screwing around. ESP
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2008-08-19 23:29
'"If the rod is completely unscrewed but little of the slotted end is showing, is there reason not to push the rod out from the other end (e.g., with a paper clip) until enough shows that the pliers can grip below the slot?"
Yes, I sometimes do that, especially when little rod is showing & rust or gum is in the pivot. Sometimes it is unavoidable, eg when an instrument has a totally stripped thread in the post. Quite a few threads on Chinese instruments are MADE like that.
"In my over fifty years of playing clarinet I’ve never striped or even heard of anyone striping a screw or screw joint on a clarinet."
Nor have I. Yet I come across them, on old instruments, and Chinese instruments. Technicians see a lot more than players do. "I guess ignorance is bliss." Sure is.
Also, it is common for (especially DIY) guys to wreck the slot on a screw rod. So the rod gets shortened, often unfortunately with a rounded end (from attempts at gripping with pliers!), and a new slot is cut. This means that when the rod is unscrewed there is still very little showing for gripping with pliers. Considerable caution is required not to damage that precious end further. (But no matter... your tech can make a new rod :-)
"Stores that sell jewelry-making supplies to hobbyists (Pearl, Michael's, Moore's, etc.) sell small, flat-nosed pliers with plastic jaws."
Plastic coated jaws may work on an instrument in excellent condition, but if the rod is slightly resistant to coming out, they will not provide sufficient grip.
'I can't tell what direction clockwise is on my digital watch."
Special, reverse pitch screw drivers are required in the southern hemisphere. DIY guys don't have them, which is why so many screw-heads get damaged.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2008-08-20 06:08
>> I can't tell what direction clockwise is on my digital watch.
It's the reversed direction of anticlockwise 
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Author: Mike Clarinet
Date: 2008-08-20 08:01
"Special, reverse pitch screw drivers are required in the southern hemisphere. DIY guys don't have them, which is why so many screw-heads get damaged."
Being in Northern Europe, could I use a left-handed screwdriver instead?
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Author: NorbertTheParrot
Date: 2008-08-20 08:23
Mike wrote:
"Being in Northern Europe, could I use a left-handed screwdriver instead?"
Being in England, Mike, you should know the First Law of DIY: "If at first you don't succeed, use a bigger hammer."
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2008-08-20 10:58
"Being in Northern Europe, could I use a left-handed screwdriver instead? "
No, it is the blade that has to be mirror imaged, not the hand. :-)
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2008-08-20 12:42
>>"If at first you don't succeed, use a bigger hammer."
>>
And if that doesn't work, use duct tape!
Not entirely kidding, btw: The last clarinet I bought has a stripped rod screw on the register key. The previous owner wrapped slivers of duct tape around the ends of each post to prevent the rod from working loose and falling out. No, the fix doesn't work well at all, but it hardly matters, since the spring on that key has metal fatigue anyway!
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-08-20 13:44
If all else fails, ...
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SUPERGLUE!
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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The Clarinet Pages
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