 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: brasstaps
Date: 2020-03-17 20:22
New to clarinet , picked up a Boosey and Hawkes 2-20 was rebuilt and cleaned and new cork on all connections . Cork is greased every time played . Problem I am having is its so tight its very had to put together and take apart . Is this normal to some extent and get better in time ,or should the corks be sanded a bit. It is scary tight , to the point of possibly bending keys to get enough grip . All input greatly appreciated , thank you.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2020-03-17 21:19
As long as the difficulty is too thick corks and not wood binding when the joint is fully assembled, careful sanding may help to make the corks less thick. Do a little at a time - too loose a fit can cause other problems.
Karl
Post Edited (2020-03-17 21:20)
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2020-03-17 22:38
Agree. When I re-cork something (usually the mouthpiece), I use a file to sand it down. Am careful to just sand cork, not anything BLACK. My thought is that using sandpaper may mean inadvertantly sanding non-cork.
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2020-03-18 01:12
I once bought a mouthpiece that had a tight fitting cork on it. I was sure it was going to shear off if I kept attaching it on a daily basis. I left the mouthpiece on a barrel for a few days. The cork became compressed and is now a great, tight fit. The cork hasn’t re-expanded though I now leave th3 mouthpiece off the barrel.
Your situation is a bit different. If you try this I’d make sure the wood is thoroughly dry before putting the joints together and leaving them together. Once you’ve played, leave the instrument to dry then reassemble that joint and leave it together until your next practice session.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2020-03-18 03:46
I can't recommend leaving the instrument assembled and hoping that the cork will compress. It can go either way, and I've had a lot of instruments brought to me that could not be disassembled after being left like this. Filing the cork down is the best way to go, a little at a time. I find the best tool for the job is a diamond nail file. Cheaply available at your local pharmacist.
Tony F.
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Author: m1964
Date: 2020-03-20 06:53
brasstaps wrote:
"New to clarinet , picked up a Boosey and Hawkes 2-20 was rebuilt and cleaned and new cork on all connections . Cork is greased every time played . Problem I am having is its so tight its very had to put together and take apart . Is this normal to some extent and get better in time ,or should the corks be sanded a bit. It is scary tight , to the point of possibly bending keys to get enough grip . All input greatly appreciated , thank you."
If you are using a good quality grease, and the tenons are so tight that it is difficult to take them apart, then there is a (small) chance of tenon binding.
I did see this problem when a player used old, poor quality cork grease.
Try cleaning tenon cork with alcohol and use good quality synthetic grease like La Tromba.
If you have a digital caliper, you could check inner socket diameter vs. outer tenon diameter to exclude possible binding.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2020-03-20 10:42
As it's a wooden B&H, binding tenons aren't likely to be an issue as they're usually a very sloppy fit on them. The middle tenon on most '60s wooden B&H clarinets is particularly poor as they use the same width slot on all the tenons, therefore leaving no tenon ring at the shoulder which causes the joints to wobble as there's no solid support.
Was natural cork used or have they fitted synthetic tenon corks of some or other description? I've seen tech cork used which has far less give in it which is fine for some applications, but not for tenon corks as it will be a very tight fit to start with, but will compress and not recover leaving things very loose. Natural cork is best for tenon corks.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2020-03-21 11:40
Being that old and a B&H makes it unlikely to be the tenon binding... but I guess that's still a (very unlikely) possibility.
What type of cork was used? Some synthetic corks are basically impossible to sand. Some other types (techcork, etc.) have other problems like Chris mentioned. If it's regular real cork then it can still be difficult if not impossible to sand it when it's greased. You can remove the grease as much as possible, hopefully they didn't use some kind of poor quality glue that would release from that.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2020-03-21 13:27
Most grease can be wiped off with a dry cotton cloth, then use alcohol (isoprpoyl or similar) to degrease it before sanding. Don't use solvents (acetone or nail varnish remover) as that will dissolve the adhesive.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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