 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: David Kinder
Date: 2001-03-19 15:10
I have a 17 year old Buffet R-13. I've been very happy with it, but I want a better plating job on the keys. I know that this would take an overhaul and a repad, but I need to know who I can trust with a replating job. Any recommendations?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: deejay
Date: 2001-03-19 18:59
I asked someone about that and they charge around 200... depending on the clarinet, you can e-mail em at cyn@aimcomm.com and ask..
deejay
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Laura
Date: 2001-03-19 22:17
There's Anderson Silver Plating in (address:)
541 Industrial Pkwy. Elkhart IN 46515
(219) 294 6447 they do great work, I've had mouthpieces for my trb. replated through them and they look great.
Taylor Music in South Dakota = www.taylormusic.com
Does a wonderful Overhaul including Replating, not sure if they take in new business. But, just purchased a reconditioned Buffet Bass from them and it looks and plays wonderful. Write them and see.
Any questions-write me
Laura
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: jbutler
Date: 2001-03-19 23:06
I'm gave up trying to work on the plating aspect of the business. Since the EPA got involved with the plating industry it has made it all but impossible for the ocassional plater to even consider it. I was told point blank that MY NAME would go on a LIST. This would be a LIST of everyone who disposed of any hazardous material, particularly POTASSIUM CYANIDE, that is taken to a salt dome in Louisiana for disposal. (Lucky Cajuns!). If my business were to catch fire, in my case this is also my home, the city fire marshall told me they would watch it burn to the ground. They would not put water on a fire that MIGHT cause the potassium cyanide to leech out to the ground. Costs for equipment (the least amount), license, and disposal fees are right at $225,000.00. Yes, that is one quarter of a million dollars. So when you want your clarinet keys replated, consider that these businesses have spent an lot of money in order to be able to do that and don't begrudge the amount of money it costs.
Yes, Anderson does a good job. I haven't seen enough of Taylor's work to say either way, although I did see a trumpet overhaul that I wasn't overly impressed with. I do like the employees at Taylor. They get along easily. MW says Steve Fowler also does plating. You might want to check with him about address, etc.
I usually send the keys, posts and rings to Anderson. I charge the normal overhaul charge on top of the replating costs.
John
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Terry Horlick
Date: 2001-03-20 04:36
Just go to a great rebuilder. He/she will have the contact for the plater. I just had two horns done by WW&BW. Sue Schaake did a top notch job. She sends the keywork out after she disassembles the horn. She has all the metal done except the bell ring which cannot be easily removed. She polishes the bell ring. It is a good time to step up to better pads and good cork pads on the upper joint.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Anji
Date: 2001-03-20 13:27
I believe custom car shops still plate door handles and other trim...
You would need to verify the hinges and fittings afterward, but they should be able to handle the job.
Have you tried to polish the works?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Terry Horlick
Date: 2001-03-20 13:48
Don't waste your time with auto re-platers. Out here in California our EPA laws have put almost all of them out of business, and astronomically increased the cost of plating.
Ever done any automotive work? I have. Auto plating is mostly tripple chrome plating. This means you buff out the piece, then plate several thick layeres of copper. You buff out the pice and then plate with nickle. You buff out the piece and then plate with chrome.
I doubt you want a chrome horn. The nickle they plate is thin and quickly tarnishes. Yes you can have them plate it thicker, but then it still tarnishes a rich-brownish-silver color. The auto platers do not have chemicals to do silver.
How do they buff? With buffing wheels which are about 12"-16" diameter and about 4"-6" wide. They have a minimum wage kid pushing metal into the wheel and feeding abrasives to it. I have seen bumpers come back with significant ammounts of spring steel buffed away. Your clarinet parts are small er and more delicate than anything that teenager has ever seen..... Yup I want him plating my clarinet!
Add to this you are unlikely to get all the parts back, none of the kids there are going to go diving into a 6 foot by 8 foot by 4 foot deep chemical tank to find a missing g# key which fell off of it's plating wire. The parts which don't get lost, or buffed away to nothing, will come back bent into unusable shapes.
What the heck, you will pay more and have a ruined clarinet, but you will get to see a really cool Ford truck bumper while you are there! Good trade-off!
<font color="red" size ="+3"><I><b>Enough said!</b></I></font>
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: David Kinder
Date: 2001-03-20 16:38
How can I get in contact with Anderson?
Also, I need new pads. I've heard of Gore-tex and there's some other brand that advertises that you can immerse your clarinet in water and it won't affect the pads. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? And, what are your opinions on the types of pads I should invest in?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: jbutler
Date: 2001-03-20 22:51
David,
Laura gave you the address and phone number in her post above.
Gortex costs about $75 per set. I think the other pad you might be thinking about are the Norbeck pads. I don't care for them much. I still prefer installing cork pads.
John
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: William
Date: 2001-03-23 23:40
Ever consider gold plating??? Not much more expensive than silver and is more durable if doe well. One of my R-13s was replated 12 yrs ago in gold and it is still as classy now as it was when new. I use it for jazz gigs. All of my other clarinets are silver plated and are in various stages of tarnishment. Good luck!!!!!!!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-03-24 10:54
More durable? I thought it was a VERY soft metal..... Or do they plate with an ALLOY of gold. It is durable in its resistance to tarnish, and it probably covers a surface well without 'pores' in which galvanic corrosion can start, but wouldn't it have to be a really thick coating to not easily wear away? Then again, the abrasiveness of our skin probably varies widely from person to person. My skin would often have metal dust embedded in it. The 'rolled gold' (which I can see is very thick) didn't take long to wear through at the edges.
As a metal gold is FAR more expensive than silver, so if a really thick plating was done it should cost significantly more, IMHO.
Bye the way, well said Terry!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Terry Horlick
Date: 2001-03-24 16:10
Gold should last longer on that horn. How long the gold lasts depends on how much you play it and how much you polish it.
1) I'm guessing that a horn used only for jazz will get less use than an orchestral horn (mine does). In fact it will do a lot more time on the peg than the saxophone next to it.
2) Yes the metal is very soft, so in an equal wear (amount of actual playing time the same) it should go away much faster if abrasion was the only issue. But abrasion is not the problem here (see below).
3) A jewler could gold plate for you, they have the chemicals needed.
4) You still can't do the bell ring without removing it.... I guess you could cut that off and gold or silver solder it back together. Then plate it and then heat shrink it back onto the bell. Of course you would be better off just having a jewler stud the bell ring with diamonds, like Pete Fountain.
5) Silver will tarnish so you do a lot of rubbing (using the abrasive polishing cloth to wear away the tarnished... oxidized... surface of the metal). To try and make your plating last longer you polish it after use, or wipe it down where your fingers touched it. This will make the plating wear out also (see #6 below), but not as fast as the acids will do this if you didn't wipe it down.
6) The reason the plating goes away from the keys were you touch them is the acidity of your fingers' oils. Gold is very inert and will not be attacked by the acids.
The sharp edges of keys tend to loose plating due to the abrasion of the case and of polishing with abrasives (polishing cloths). Gold will wear away faster than silver or nickle, but you won't be polishing the gold as much as the other platings as it stays shiney longer and it doesn't tarnish.
7) Gold is more expensive than silver, so what? You will have about $.45 of gold on there when you are done vs. about $.25 of silver (just a wild guess your results may vary). The cost of plating is the labor, the materials, and the largest cost is the government mandated handling (disposal, inspection fees, paperwork etc.). The plater's overhead and labor cost is what bumps the cost of overhauling a horn up by $100 to $200 each time.
Terry
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-03-25 12:21
Excellent points. Thanks Terry.
No. 4: Can't the brell ring be plated with a brush kit? Or is that just too thin to bother with.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Terry Horlick
Date: 2001-03-25 13:21
Gordon,
I didn't mention doing it with a brush kit because I have no knowledge about that other than I have heard of itinerant "platers" brushing gold onto cars in parking lots. I don't know if that can be done without damage to the wood. Most importantly I don't know if a uniform coating can be achieved. If it will be thick enough to last and if it will look smooth.
I am a dentist and I am aware there are some relativley inexpensive brush kits available for plating dental appliances and lab dies.
Have you seen a car done this way? Does it look like someone put on yellow fingernail polish? You might have to buy a kit, which would probably cost as much as the whole plating job on the rest of the keys (just another wild guess here). The place I would start looking for such a kit would be in the automovie restoration suppliers, Eastwood or J. C. Whitney.
Terry
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2001-03-26 12:34
For brush plating look under "Plug'n Plate Kits" at http://www.caswellplating.com/kits.htm
For a basic silver kit $35.
I have successfully used a similar one for touching up keys.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
