 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: stebinus2
Date: 2009-02-17 13:31
I have a screw stuck in a hinge tube. It's the fork Bb/Eb on a resonite Evette. The key works, it just turns the screw in the posts. The screw will jog a bit in the tube when you try to turn it but not much. I've tried heat and WD40 and have succeeded in enlarging the slot in the screw (yay) but not yet to the point of being unable to put a screw driver in it. Is there any way to get this thing apart without drilling or sawing?
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Author: senior
Date: 2009-02-17 19:30
Oil of wintergreen is the better than any penetrating oil I have found. You can buy it at your local drug store. Put a drop on each end of the hinge pin and let it set for awhile. This proceedure may have to be repeated. Use the correct size screw driver and work the pin back and forth to loosen the pin. Go easy on the oil. Good luck with it.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2009-02-17 21:56
use a well fitting screwdriver
1. clamp driver firmly in a vice
2. place rod slot squarely onto driver tip
3. pressing whole instrument squarely onto the driver rotate instrument fractionally until the key starts to open, then press key arm to close it while still retaining pressure of instrument on driver and keeping the body stationary, this should allow just a fractional movement of key on the shaft.
4. reposition instrument on driver and repeat steps 1-3 again as many times as needed to free up the rod.
By careful positioning and using gentle bodyweight to keep the slot firmly on and in the driver tip you get much better purchase and much reduced chance of driver slipping out of, or spreading, the slot.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2009-02-17 22:31
If you can tell where the bend is, try to bend the key barrel back by tapping it with a mallet and a piece of wood so it doesn't harm the plating, or if it's been bent from the upper side, try to lever it upwards (but you risk ripping the pillars from the joint!).
But both these methods can cause the screw thread to break off in the pillar which isn't as bad a problem as you may think as chances are the thread is loose in the pillar and that should be easy to remove once you manage to get the key and opposing pillar off.
The problem is getting the key off as you need to turn the pillar anti-clockwise to undo it. And as it's the cross Eb/Bb key, the shape of the key and how it's mounted won't let you do this as the pad cup and key touch wrap around the joint. Much easier with speaker keys or trill keys as they're cross mounted (run across the joint), but keys mounted laterally will be a pain and may need to be cut free with a fine piercing saw.
Doing that will increase the gap between the key barrel and pillars, and this key is most likely one that can't be swaged due to how the key pieces are soldered on leaving very little or no key barrel at either end for you to get your swaging pliers around.
To be honest, this key isn't the most ideal one to have been bent (accidents do happen) as it's the trickiest one to tackle with regards to removing and straightening it out. Another option is to find an identical clarinet (Evette, B12 or E11) with a broken middle tenon but with all the keys still otr mostly there, and use it as a donor instrument. Cut the key off the good clarinet, remove the remainder of the pillars from the joint and then transplant the key and pillars from the donor one onto it.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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