Author: Chris P
Date: 2021-05-24 00:50
1.6mm thick sheet cork is best for tenon corks and mouthpiece corks.
If the cork slots are particularly deep, you can use 2mm thick sheet cork, but it is more prone to cracking if it's very dry. You can always glue a strip of tech cork in the slot to bulk it out, then glue the 1.6mm thick cork strip onto the top of that and shape the tenon cork as normal.
As far as key corks go, you're best using something far more durable for linkages - 0.4mm thick tech cork is ideal for that. It can also be used on the speaker key, in the cut-out on the throat A key under the adjusting screw, the LH3 'sliver' key, the side F# key and the bridge key linkage. On the lower joint it can be used on the RH F/C key linkage and on the other linkages on the E/B and F#/C# if they're not pinned to the LH levers.
Where there's sliding between two linkage pieces, either coat it with graphite to make it slippery or stick a piece of self adhesive thin teflon sheet to keep the friction down to a minimum.
You can get tech cork in various thicknesses (usually in 0.5mm increments) which is excellent for the side/trill keys, the throat G# and Ab/Eb key - choose the ideal thickness and you'll not have to sand anything down. Tech cork isn't easy to sand down, but it can be trimmed with fresh razor or scalpel blades.
On open standing keys you're better using something that's not going to create noise as natural cork can be noisy in these applications, so use ultrasuede or thin felt on the thumb ring, on the throat G# stopper (or tech cork of the correct thickness), the RH ring key foot, the crow's foot, the LH F/C lever foot and the E/B key stopper - either on the LH E/B lever if it's not pinned or on the RH E/B linkage piece if the LH levers are pinned. And like tech cork, felt and ultrasuede can't be sanded down so choose the correct thickness. Thick felt and ultrasuede is best trimmed and sliced with fresh razor blades for the best finish.
But if you want to use natural cork, then 0.5mm, 1mm, 1.6mm and 2mm thick sheet cork should be suitable. Only use the requred thickness sheet cork insteas of sticking on thick cork and having to sand loads of it down leaving the key corks looking uneven.
Depending on the make or model, I only use natural cork on the throat A key stopper, using a 9.5mm waterkey cork trimmed at an angle to form a wedge shape with a sharp razor, then glued onto the underside of the key, the sides trimmed and sanded smooth, then the thickness trimmed and sanded to achieve the required venting. Vito, Normandy, Noblet and Leblanc throat A keys use a thin piece of sheet cork or tech cork as well as using thin key corks (or tech cork) throughout. And as already mentioned, use the sharpest or freshest blades to trim sheet cork for the best finish as blunt blades will only tear at it.
If the rolls of cork on Amazon are composite/reconstituted cork, then that's no good as it crumbles and compresses easily. Some makers have used it on their instruments, but it doesn't hold up well. Natural cork is best for tenon corks and not many of the synthetic alternatives that has been tried have come close to it - they either compress too much, aren't as easy to sand, turn sticky when they react with cork grease or don't bond well to the adhesive.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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