Author: Luuk ★2017
Date: 2019-03-11 14:51
During my visit to the Leblanc factory in France, in 1995, I witnessed the complete manufacturing process. Every step included interaction of an employee with the machines used. The bore was made by hand-pushing a pre- drilled wooden cilinder over a rotating drill. Next, the tone holes were drilled one by one using a master stencil (is this the correct word?) in form of a massive aluminum clarinet joint with small holes located at the equivalent positions of the tone holes. With help of a feeler mechanism the holes were drilled.
The undercutting was done by putting a rotating thread end through the tone hole, receiving it with a small conical mill held in place using tweezers. Then the rotating thread was pulled up, thus removing a wooden cone from the inner side of the joint. I'm not sure what mechanism restricted the amount of undercutting.
I expect normal variance or repeatability could be up to +/- 0,1 mm, for each step involved.
Thus, it was necessary to finish all clarinets by hand at the end of the process. And some (10%?) were sent back for rework.
Now, it is not 1995 anymore, but have a look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31KR46tCucI (published 2011).
Interesting observation was that finished clarinets had not been played up to that moment. Professional clarinetists visited the factory now and then to play test the top line models, after which they were released for sale, or again sent back for rework.
So what is the difference with small workshops? Maybe not much in terms of production facilities/machinery, but maybe more with respect to the knowledge and craftmanship of the worker. The latter could limit variance while using the same machinery.
Now my question is: how important is variance of +/- 0,1 mm? I know no two clarinets of the same model really are the same (feel, sound, intonation). However, this creates a choice for musicians. The same argument as I heard a Vandoren importer use: when all reeds are the same in a batch, chances are no reed is useable for a given musician.
Regards,
Luuk
Philips Symphonic Band
The Netherlands
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The Clarinet BBoard
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