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Flatten Ton Hole

Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2011-03-24 16:13

I'm actually an oboist, but I assume it's more likely I'll find people who can answer here, rather than on the Oboe BBoard. Question obviously directed at expert, or at least experienced, repairers....

On my student model wood oboe, the keyed F was terribly sharp, so I put in some heated-glue-gun stuff to close the top of the hole. Not a problem, except the cooling glue does not behave so well and I have to cut it a bit with a very sharp X-Acto (or Olfa) style knife.

Now, if I happen to scratch or nick the lip of the tone hole, that's disastrous to sealing!

Is there a home-made solution to even the lip.... say, sand paper on a rigid metal stick or using a ball reamer in a Dremmel tool?

Any idea how much a cork or "white" pad can compensate for unevenness?

Thanks

Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music

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Re: Flatten Ton Hole

Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-03-24 17:13

If you've got access to a metal lathe, face off a piece of brass rod that's turned down to the widest diameter of the bedplace (or slightly narrower) so it's completely flat and glue some abrasive paper to the face of it (800-1200 grit) and use this to level the crown of the bedplace with by holding it against the bedplace and turning it with your thumb and index finger - DON'T use power tools to do this!

If you have nicked the bedplace with a knife or it has a chip in it, fill it in with a tiny drop of superglue (applied with a needle or scalpel blade tip), wait for it to go off (or apply a sprinkling of fine wood dust so you don't have to wait) and then level it off until it's flat. Remove any excess superglue by scraping it off with a scalpel. On plastic instruments, you can use superglue but it may not take to the plastic, so you might have to use epoxy as a filler instead and give it 24 hours to go off before working on it.

For tuning, use hard wax applied with a heated metal rod (a piece of coathanger will do but round off any sharp ends) instead of hot glue as wax is much easier to shape and adjust than hot glue.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

Post Edited (2011-03-24 18:08)

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Re: Flatten Ton Hole

Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2011-03-24 17:32

Thanks a million!

Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music

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Re: Flatten Ton Hole

Author: BartHx
Date: 2011-03-25 23:19

I had a clarinet with a rather large chip out of the edge of a tone hole under a ring key. It was large enough that I was able to drill a couple of small holes in the broken face to provide holding points. I then filled the area with black epoxy, let it sit overnight, and finished it much the way Chris describes above. I see no reason why the same process should not work on a smaller chip under a pad.

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Re: Flatten Ton Hole

Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-03-25 23:22

Badly damaged toneholes can be built up and recut - or in extreme cases, bushed and recut.

Either way, the repair will be a permanent one provided it's done well.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

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