 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: janlynn2013
Date: 2017-09-22 18:03
after a 6 year break I am coming back to playing my clarinet. I would like to get some sandpaper. I used to polish my reeds with it. but I cat remember what grit? anybody know? I start lessons again sept 30th.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-09-22 19:22
For just polishing, you could use the back of whatever sandpaper you have. If you want grit to actually remove material, #600 Wet-or-dry might be good. If you want to take more off, #400.
Karl
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Author: Merlin_Williams
Date: 2017-09-23 17:02
You can also get 1200 grit and higher.
Jupiter Canada Artist/Clinician
Stratford Shakespeare Festival musician
Woodwind Doubling Channel Creator on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/WoodwindDoubling
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2017-09-23 19:38
I think the grit number is an indicator of how many particles fit into some specific area or length and, by implication, of abrasiveness. But I wonder if there are other measures of abrasiveness and, if so, how materials like the sandpaper backing or newsprint or other surfaces would compare to those very high grit numbers.
Karl
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Author: shmuelyosef
Date: 2017-09-24 03:49
You can get up to 6000 grit...the grit size of sandpaper is a number that is inversely related to the particle size. The dimensions are historical, so the numbers don't make much sense...the particle size is reflected in the size of the scratches they leave...for example:
400 grit is 35 microns (or 1.5 mils)
1200 grit is 15 microns
6000 grit is 4 microns
Personally, I like 600 grit wet-dry paper for adjusting reeds and I use it wet with water.
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2017-09-30 03:22
400 to 600 is pretty nice to get rid of warped reeds. Also to soften the reeds if they are too hard. If the reeds are about the right strength avoid the tip area, about 1/3 of the reed from getting soft. So let the reed tip area, about 1/3 hang over the sandpaper.
Using anything higher such as something like 2000 grit will cause the reeds from vibrating properly. It polishing the reeds. You need the fibers to vibrate, so you can't polish them.
Needless to say you have experiment. There are no set rules. 400 grit works best for me and I kind of like the 3M wet/dry products. Not all sandpaper is the same. Added, I like to use a very flat piece of glass or marble. It doesn't have to be big. Available at most hardware stores. Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, all of these places.
Also I don't like going in a forward and backwards motion. More of a 1/2 circle. Warps are hard to get rid of and use 3 fingers in the bark of the reed; your index, middle and ring fingers. No fingers on the actual cut of the reed. Don't press hard. Take a few swipes then test the reed. It doesn't take much to turn the stinky playing reed into a great reeds again, even if it still shows some warping. If they cane is good some players are getting 10 weeks out of a Steuer reed. Mainly because of the Var location in France. I'm getting about 6 weeks or so with hard playing. 4 hours a day or more. I have to adjust most of the reeds after about 3 weeks. Then the reeds bounce back to decent playing reeds. Same with really good Vandoren cane from France. But most of their cane is not from France.
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
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Author: Wes
Date: 2017-09-30 03:57
Interesting! Sometimes I also put an "oboe tip" on a clarinet reed a little bit by sanding straight to the middle tip with the edge of the paper, from both sides of the reed. This inverted V shape mostly affects the high end of the range. If the low notes are too unfocused, one would not do this way of sanding.
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