 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: stebinus
Date: 2008-08-25 21:19
How do you fill/repair small chipped out areas on the top edge of plastic tone holes?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-08-25 21:56
If it's ABS resin or a similar waxy plastic, build it up with epoxy resin or similar (with black pigment added to it) and let it harden fully - use a slow setting epoxy for this and allow 24 hours to go off.
Once fully hardened, trim the outside to shape with a sharp scalpel or chisel and then level the crown with fine emery paper glued to a piece of metal rod of the same diameter as the countersink (or turned down to that diameter) with the end machined perfectly flat to achieve a flat bedplace for the pad to seat onto.
Harder plastics used on older clarinets such as phenol resin or bakelite (and even ebonite) can be filled with superglue and wood dust as you'd do with a wooden clarinet.
Do you know what kind of plastic it's made from?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: stebinus
Date: 2008-08-26 08:10
Not sure of the material. It's an Artley Prelude made in 1973. Black plastic, not super shiny, with simulated woodgrain. Any alternative method to the drill rod method? It's the Eb/Ab and C/F holes on the lower joint so each countersink about 17mm and don't have drill rod that big on hand or a lathe. Possible to eyeball the job with magnifier, emery paper, small circular file, flat metal rule...? What about using wooden dowel instead of drill rod?
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2008-08-26 08:27
>> Possible to eyeball the job
Yes, basically. Before I had special tools I used to do this by taking a piece of sand paper (or sometimes sand cloth), glue it to a small plastic rod, which I filed to have several shapes at the end. Sometimes I used just the sand paper (using my fingers). Just be very careful not to sand where you don't want to, or too much when you do. I'm not sure what glue will work best on the specific plastic but you don't even need a feeler, just glue will be good too. I think slow setting epoxy will be the easiest to not make mistakes if you don't have experience (compared with super glue).
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-08-26 12:33
I do tonehole work like this by using an epoxy/glue/woodchips and cutting the excess with a razor or scalpel and finishing it with fine 'sandpaper tape' on a rubber stopper. The rubber has flat ends and it is self regulating to level everything out, but the surface must be very close before you use the sandpaper.
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Author: stebinus
Date: 2008-08-26 14:28
Thanks for the tips people. Skygardener do you mean epoxy + glue + woodchips? If so what kind of glue and what proportions of everything?
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2008-08-26 23:37
Woodchips (actually closer to a coarse powder), used as a filler, are normally used in conjunction with low viscosity superglue.
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-08-27 00:03
"do you mean epoxy + glue + woodchips?"
No, I mean epoxy or superglue + woodchips (if it's a wood clarinet).
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