 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: nron
Date: 2016-02-08 01:05
Curious here as to whether anyone has had their clarinet keys aftermarket silver plated. Or has anyone had experience with keys wasting away on their horns. I have a clarinet now which I would like to keep for the rest of my life so anything I can do to help it last would be great
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-02-08 01:43
I've had loads of silver plating done - either to entire clarinets or individual keys when doing keywork alterations on clarinets and oboes.
I've had my Selmer Series 9 Bb silver plated which was originally nickel plated, an early '60s Buffet Eb completely plated, my C clarinet and my late '50s Centered Tone - all of which were originally unplated.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: eddiec ★2017
Date: 2016-02-08 05:15
Those look really nice, Chris.
Do re-plating jobs usually pre-plate with copper like Buffet?
It would be nice to know what options one should look for in a plating service. Given the expense in preparing the keys for plating, it makes no sense to go "thin" on the copper, and at around 15 USD/ounce it really shouldn't be necessary. I've also read of variations on the silver alloy in use, for example some platinum is supposed to slow down tarnish, but that would indeed raise the price. I haven't seen plating services talk much about these options.
It would be nice to know what Patricola is doing with their plating. My 1995 has been played a lot and looks great with one good cleaning job a few years ago. No wear through yet. They don't make any claims on their website other than the plate is "thick".
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: tylerleecutts
Date: 2016-02-08 06:02
I would like to jump in- does it dramatically change clarinets to have them replated? I have wear on the nickel plating on my clarinet (R13), but have considered simply slowing down the wear with some varnish.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Dibbs
Date: 2016-02-08 16:04
tylerleecutts wrote:
> I would like to jump in- does it dramatically change clarinets
> to have them replated? I have wear on the nickel plating on my
> clarinet (R13), but have considered simply slowing down the
> wear with some varnish.
The plating on the keys isn't going to change how your clarinet plays (unless you believe Yamaha's marketing). The repad and recork that it will need afterwards almost certainly will.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-02-08 16:36
What Dibbs said.
Silver is by far my most favourite metal - nice look, excellent grip, can be replated easily, etc... - the downside is it tarnishes easily and the sulphur content of ebonite mouthpieces, case materials, leather tanning/curing agents and other things can cause silver plate to turn black. But it can be polished back up to a bright by hand without too much grief (but plenty of elbow grease).
While gold plate has many advantages over silver if you have body chemistry that doesn't agree with it, it isn't applied anywhere nearly as thickly as silver which on pro level instruments can be a minimum of 25 microns - maybe up to around 40 microns if you were to take the measurements.
Copper flash shouldn't be applied too thickly as copper has a very rough finish at a microscopic level - much better is to have a nickel flash as nickel plate is incredibly smooth. Consider how slippery nickel plate is under the fingers in comparison to copper and you'll understand. But with nickel being a very hard metal and tough on cutting tools, it should only be applied up to around 5 microns at most, then silver plate on top of that.
But most companies are plating directly onto copper due to its conductivity, but if the preparation is poor no matter if it's copper or nickel under the silver plate, the finish won't be good and the plating can peel off if it hasn't adhered well.
I've yet to see platinum plate or platinum, but I hear it's like silver - and then some. But it's prohibitively expensive.
Some plating companies add an anti-tarnish layer to silver plate which is probably a company secret, but if they do offer that, then I think it's wise to have it done. Good plating companies will inspect every key they plate and then do the extra work to tweak any that have imperfections from the plating process.
But doing all the necessary prep work on keys before sending them to be plated will be beneficial - remove any dents, dinks, tarnish, grease, old shellac, scratches and do all the soldering and cleaning up work before plating, then all that's left to do is refitting the keys when you get them back after they've been plated as they won't fit if they've had 25+ microns of silver, plus the undercoats plated onto them. So all rod and point screws will need to be fitted as will all screw threads. Don't overbroach anything and expect the plating to take up the slop as plating doesn't go on evenly inside key barrels and if you've shortened key barrels by fraising them back, they may still be loose between pillars after being plated and swaging them to get them to fit will only mar the finish and you may need to have them replated again.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: bradfordlloyd
Date: 2016-02-08 19:36
I purchased an R-13 in A for a bargain price because the keywork was a mess -- it was rough, sharp in places, and pieces of plating were literally falling off.
Working with a tech, we sent the keys to Anderson Silver plating in Elkhart, Indiana and after a few step process ended up with absolutely beautiful replated keys. The plating itself was not all that expensive, but more was the tech time in removing the old plate and refitting the keys and the recork/repad needed.
Anyway, it took a while a cost a bit, but the keywork is now gorgeous and like new. In the end, I saved a very large amount by taking on the plating project, and I'm thrilled with the results.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: DarkHairedIrish
Date: 2016-02-08 21:27
Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever seen or heard of a clarinet being plated in something other than nickel, silver, gold, or platinum?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2016-02-08 21:56
Yeah - copper plated keys on those limited edition clear perspex Buffet B12s from the late '80s.
Also rhodium plating (over silver) which is non-reactive. But I've heard it's difficult to replate onto rhodium.
I've seen a horrendous Italian clarinet (probably Orsi or similar) which had chrome plated mazak keys - think nickel plate, but even cheaper looking and far more slippery under the fingers. It has a blueish tinge to it whereas nickel has a sort of dark, brownish tinge. You'll instantly recognise chrome plate as it looks like bathroom plumbing fittings and metal car bumpers.
Chrome plate is championed on Buffet bassoons as it's slippery and ideal for sliding thumbs around - Fox also did some bassoons with chrome plated keys. Although I think Buffet RC and Selmer (Paris) bassoons now have silver plated keys as standard.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: nron
Date: 2016-02-09 04:34
those pictures look amazing thanks for sharing them!
Definitely something I will be researching thoroughly now. I'm in Australia so not really sure where to start but there are a few tech options near me where I can start.
I get the feeling this would probably be around double to cost of a full overhaul on an instrument? or close-ish?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
