 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: SteveG_CT
Date: 2011-12-30 20:06
johnniegoldfish wrote:
> Is there a method to maintain and oil your clarinet at home or
> is this ill advised?
This is generally considered to be basic maintenance and you can absolutely do it at home. You should oil the keys around once per month. Basically you just need to apply a tiny drop of key oil to the pivot points on each key. Afterwards you can wipe off any excess.
If you have a wood bodied clarinet you may need to infrequently oil the bore. This can be done by applying a few drops of bore oil to a spare swab and then running it down the bore of the instrument to put a light coating of oil on it. It is up for debate how often this should be done. I generally only oil the bore on my instruments if they look dry and do so usually only once or twice per year.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2011-12-30 23:03
I can agree with most of that, except I don't think applying oil to the creases will get the oil where it needs to go. I recommend unscrewing the rods and pulling them mostly out (at least to the thread) and applying a drop of oil to the shaft so that it becomes lubricated once returned to place. Also the pivots need to be unscrewed to get to the actual pivot 'point.' Just make sure you don't lose a pivot - do this over a work bench or some such where you can contain the parts.
The best advice I heard over the bore oil was to apply in a thin coat so the interior is just wet looking. Leave over night, continue to repeat until the bore remains wet looking the next day - then it is fully bore oiled. That is if you are on the side of the argument that believes you should regularly oil the bore (which I am).
Oh and bore oil and key oil are two COMPLETELY different oils !!!
..............Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2011-12-31 07:04
>> ...except I don't think applying oil to the creases will get the oil where it needs to go. <<
It will. It depends on using oil that is right for the purpose i.e. not too thick, when that thickness of oil is the right one to use. It does get into the key when oiled in this way. When using good oil, IME it is unecesssary to remove the screw to add extra when needed. I would spent the extra time if it would make a difference.
For pivot screws it is normal to use grease or very thick oil (I often use a combination of the two). Then extra can be added the same way as for rod screw with thinner oil. No problem.
It is a good idea to remove the screw and re-oil but no need to as often as...
>> You should oil the keys around once per month. <<
IME, when using good oil, it's not necessary to do it so often regardless of method. I found one or two times a year more than enough for most players and only in extreme cases one or two times more than that (e.g. a local player has a problem of making rods rust and bind if they are not oiled often, every two or three months).
Post Edited (2011-12-31 07:24)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2011-12-31 11:48
Re oils: There are two kinds of oil required - one for the keys, and one for the wood. Don't use the same type of oil for both purposes.
When shopping for bore (wood) oil, make sure it's food safe oil (as used for oiling butcher blocks and wooden cutting boards) if you cannot find a specialized woodwind bore oil.
For the keys, a good generic replacement for key oil would be good quality sewing machine oil.
Don't be influenced by per-gallon prices - even a small bottle will last a very long time, so it's more or less irrelevant what you actually pay for a bottle.
--
Ben
Post Edited (2011-12-31 14:52)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: rtmyth
Date: 2011-12-31 15:19
Use clock oil for bearing surfaces. Wood absorbs very little oil unless it is pressurized.
richard smith
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
