 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: derf5585
Date: 2015-08-31 05:43
Can I use wd40 as key oil or should I use WD39?
fsbsde@yahoo.com
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2015-08-31 06:38
I don't know but I've used 3 in 1 oil all my life on all my clarinet and it worked great. Never had a problem. Over 50 years as a pro.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: alanporter
Date: 2015-08-31 07:44
I have found that when the solvent in WD40 evaporates it leaves a sticky residue that attracts dust. It is great for preventing rust on mild steel, but for clarinets....forget it.
tiaroa@shaw.ca
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Author: knotty
Date: 2015-08-31 08:15
I use sewing machine oil. I'm going to try some paraffin based oil next oiling. Yeah WD-40 doesn't leave much protection once it evaporates.
Also a needle oiler you get at hobby shops will get into tight places between keys without making a mess.
~ Musical Progress: None ~
Post Edited (2015-08-31 08:17)
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2015-08-31 10:34
If you check a used can of WD40 you can notice the sticky dried oil at the top. This is what happens to WD40 after a while. I definitely wouldn't use it.
Although it's not nearly as bad, I wouldn't recommend 3 in 1 either. You can find recommendations for almost anything...
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-08-31 13:25
Hetman comes in heavy, medium and thin ......and it works. One bottle will last "forever" unless you are professionally overhauling a large quantity of horns.
Why are we looking for something else?
................Paul Aviles
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Author: The Doctor ★2017
Date: 2015-08-31 16:19
(Disclaimer - I sell synthetic key oils in 3 viscosities)
The space program has given us many new and useful items for consumer use and synthetic lubricating oils are one. These oils are the inspiration for the new synthetic oils used in cars and trucks which perform better than regular petroleum oils. The science of lubricating and oils is called Tribology and is has long since past the old petroleum based lubricating oils used in the past.
The oils that must be used in space must be made not to evaporate (one of the huge problems of petroleum based oils) in the vacuum of space and they must have a large temperature range -200 degrees F to + 450 F without changing viscosity, and must also lubricate better (have less shear) at any temperature range.
Many petroleum based oils (which now include sewing machine and clock oil) will leave behind an abrasive sludge of metal particles when the oil eventually evaporates which will wear the metal rods. Over oiling leaves oil on the wood surface and especially around posts which weakens the wood. Synthetic oils do not rot wood.
Over oiling (more than a couple times per year) is not useful and you need apply only a tiny drop to each oiling point. Long hypodermic needles 21-23 ga are best to reach out of the way oiling points and deliver only tiny drops of oil. Also, if you do not have a needle applicator you can dip a toothpick into a container of oil, keep it vertical and a tiny drop of oil will form at the tip which can then be applied to the articulating areas.
Modern science has provided us with superior alternatives to old use and care products for our instruments.
L. Omar Henderson
www.doctorsprod.com
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2015-08-31 17:31
WD40 is a penetrating oil, designed to loosen stuck screws. It also contains a little lubricating oil, but, as others have said, not enough to be a good key oil.
Nye Clock Oil used to be made from whale (porpoise) oil. It worked beautifully, but turned rancid in about a year.
The Doctor's products are the way to go. (However, François Kloc of Buffet uses automobile axle grease.)
Ken Shaw
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2015-08-31 17:56
I use gearbox oil on clarinets and saxes and sewing machine oil on oboes and piccolos (and gearbox oil for their point screws).
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: BartHx
Date: 2015-08-31 20:00
My only connection to The Doctor is as a very satisfied customer. He offers grease that works very well on point screws and a synthetic key oil that does an amazing job on pivot rods. For the typical user, one container of each will last a very long time. After five or six years of maintaining the clarinets in our community band and overhauling ones I find on that auction site for donation to our local schools, I just purchased my second small bottle of key oil (the smallest one with the needle applicator) and still have about a half tub of grease left (my key oil gets borrowed by the flutes and saxes, too). I can't count the number of pivot rods I have had trouble removing because whatever was used on them before had turned to glue. Before I had a chance to convince one of our clarinetists that inexpensive sometimes ends up costing you more, they started having problems with their throat G# key sticking open during a concert. I repaired it during intermission with a screwdriver, paper towel, pipe cleaner, and The Doctor's key oil. It has given them no trouble since. Whatever you decide to use to maintain your instrument, don't bother with the shortcuts. Get the best you can afford and it will cost less in the long run.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2015-09-01 00:00
From the state of many instruments coming into my workshop I would have to say that almost any reasonably light machine oil is far better than nothing - as nothing is what most instruments regularly get!
Having said that, professionally I use several of the Doctor's oils and greases but for the less fussy then 3 in 1 on the rods and car grease on the pivot screws is absolutely fine for clarinets and saxes.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2015-09-01 09:27
I have the oil and grease from the Doctor too.
I like his Type 1 grease and I use it a lot. I also like Type 2 grease but almost never use it.
I prefer oils from Alisyn, Ultimax or Kraus better than the Doctor's. I think they are all based on the same type of oil, but the Doctor's oil has a much stronger smell that I don't like. He also only has relatively thin oil and I regularly use three viscosities.
OTOH I really don't like Ultimax grease because it's sticky and prefer the Doctor's grease which I think is pretty regular, but hard to get in small quantities here.
I understand Hetman is also good but hard to find here so I don't have much experience with it (though a local trumpet player felt Alisyn was better when I gave her some to try, whatever this means...).
It's not like the good oils are a night and day difference from any half decent oil. They aren't going to cause any significant problem, with the exception of oils that can get dry and sticky like WD40, or (even worse) vegetable oil.
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Author: Clarineteer
Date: 2015-09-01 12:06
Trumpet valve oil is light and perfect. You never hear of trumpet valves that freeze as long as they are played on a regular basis.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2015-09-01 15:25
The most common problem I've have to deal with on trumpets and all brass instruments is in fact sluggish valve operation caused by mostly failure to regularly oil the valves.
The problem with trumpet valve oils is that they contain virtually NO oil and are primarily a very light carrier base with just a very small amount of oil added.
The relative large surface area of the valve piston in contact with the valve casing means that for trumpet valves anything containing more oil would increase the viscosity to such an extent that the valves would be far too heavy in operation.
Trumpet players would normally refresh the oil every time they play the instrument (OK so most young learners and even many who should know better never do and so have sticking valves - been having to deal with that for 25 years.)
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Author: Steven Ocone
Date: 2015-09-01 16:03
Trumpet players oil their valves frequently and the valve oil is also meant to flush the valves. Keys have different needs.
Steve Ocone
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