 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2025-02-01 20:39
I've been oiling my bore, every couple weeks in winter and every couple months in summer, with a silk swab. I use a synthetic oil from Roche-Thomas. I've done this for a number of years now, and it seems to work. I use a separate, chamois swab to dry the bore during and after play.
I store the oily swab in a sealable plastic container. I, ah, haven't been washing it, but lately I've seen a couple small spots of brownish discoloration on it, so I bought a new silk swab to replace it.
Any thoughts, anyone? - Not so much on whether to oil at all or not, since that's been discussed at length multiple times on the board in the past. I'm more interested in what others use to oil their bores and how they maintain whatever it is.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-02-01 21:34
I just use a bit of kitchen roll or cotton cloth from an old T-shirt wrapped around a wooden stick to oil the bore, then bin the bit of paper or cloth once done. Use another clean piece to remove excess and evenly distribute the oil around the bore. It helps to remove both the speaker and thumb tubes to do this if you can.
On oboes I use a silk pullthrough as that will go through the top joint bore (which narrows down to just under 4mm at the base of the reed socket).
In all cases I use raw linseed oil and haven't had any problems with that as it's been used on woodwind instruments for decades and many makers still use it to this day instead of some fancy and expensive oil cultivated by an indigenous tribe from their sacred and undisclosed source deep in the rainforest and blessed with a human sacrifice under a total solar eclipse.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: symphony1010
Date: 2025-02-01 21:54
As detailed here, there is no need to use bore oil.
https://na.buffet-crampon.com/bc_US_en/services/maintain-your-instrument.html
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Author: David H. Kinder
Date: 2025-02-02 00:07
Yeah... and automaker transmissions are sealed because they don't need to be changed as they are good for the life of the car. The real question there is "whose definition of 'life of the car' are we using?"
Cracks happen and using bore oil is a small price to pay to extend the life of the instrument.
That advice serves the company's interest (both automakers and clarinet makers) to ensure that something could end up happening, particularly after the warranty is over, so you'll buy another one... probably sooner than otherwise needed.
In fact, note the distinction: "No bore oil, etc. needs to be used to prevent cracks in a new instrument." New is the key word there.
Ridenour AureA Bb clarinet
Ridenour Homage mouthpiece
Vandoren Optimum Silver ligature (plate 1)
Vandoren #3 reeds
Post Edited (2025-02-02 00:09)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-02-02 01:44
If there's one manufacturer whose advice I'm going to ignore, then it's definitely Buffet. Just because they happen to be a pioneer, doesn't mean they do things right and far from it.
Every single time I have to service or overhaul a Buffet clarinet I've not previously worked on, I sigh heavily and say "Here we go again" as I know it's the same old stuff I'm going to have to sort out. It's got to beyond the point where I can work on any Buffet clarinet with my eyes shut and both hand behind my back as they've become that routine.
I always oil Buffet clarinets just as I oil all other wooden clarinets I service or overhaul. I usually tell owners of brand new ones to either bring them to me once the guarantee period expires if they have the guarantee work done by the supplier (which can be something between anything or nothing), or if they prefer me to routinely service them within that period at their expense.
At least that way all the crappy peel'n'stick key foams will be replaced with silencing materials better suited and more durable for the purpose, respringing the F#/C# key the correct way and reinforcing the nylon pins in the LH levers (and more besides).
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2025-02-02 02:25
I've used a long brush for decades with no problems. I oil twice yearly.
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Boreal Ballad for unaccompanied clarinet-Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001314.
Musicnotes product no. MNO287475
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Author: symphony1010
Date: 2025-02-02 03:13
Well I guess they tell people not to oil because doing it badly, with the wrong products was so prevalent.
What do you think the benefits are?
Incidentally , there has never been any peel and stick foam on my instruments but I guess all that happened later.
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Author: donald
Date: 2025-02-02 12:44
I've always oiled the bore of my clarinets. In the 1980s I had a Buffet clarinet crack, then around 2000 a newish R13 cracked.
My wife never oils her modern Buffet clarinets (although she DOES oil her historic instruments and boxwood copies). Her R13 Prestige Bb and Festival A are now nearly 30 years old and play marvelously (if I had to do a concerto on A clarinet, I'd beg her to use her A).
Neither instrument has ever cracked, and despite hours and hours of playing time my opinion is that neither are "blown out".
I've seen several Yamaha (wooden) clarinets that have survived from the 1980s and never been oiled. One, kept assembled in a hot and dry environment and never played, shrunk so the rings/bell ring came loose. The others appeared to have suffered no great trauma.
(btw despite these observations I still oil the bore, but really only about once a year/18months and in answer to the OP I've always used cotton swabs as they seem to carry/share the oil better than various synthetic/silk/chamois ones).
Post Edited (2025-02-02 16:53)
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Author: kdk
Date: 2025-02-02 20:04
donald wrote:
> I've always oiled the bore of my clarinets. In the 1980s I had
> a Buffet clarinet crack, then around 2000 a newish R13
> cracked.
> My wife never oils her modern Buffet clarinets (although she
> DOES oil her historic instruments and boxwood copies). Her R13
> Prestige Bb and Festival A are now nearly 30 years old and play
> marvelously (if I had to do a concerto on A clarinet, I'd beg
> her to use her A).
> Neither instrument has ever cracked, and despite hours and
> hours of playing time my opinion is that neither are "blown
> out".
I read an article once in which Mitchell Lurie said, in answer to the interviewer's question about something or other having to do, I think, with reeds, that (I'm paraphrasing) every player has his own "witchcraft" (Lurie's term) that he swears is absolutely necessary to success. The clear insinuation, as I recall the quotation, was that much of this "witchcraft" is just silly.
But most of the witchcraft about instruments is anecdotal. I've never oiled my clarinets in 65 years. They've all been wood (resonite and the other synthetics weren't in use in my early student days). One that I had for a year when I was in high school cracked after I left it on the stage on my chair during a rehearsal break under the hot stage lights during an intensive PMEA District Band festival. 50 years later a "rosewood" clarinet I bought online cracked in shipment. Of another 7 or 8 clarinets I've owned (most of which I still own), none has cracked. If rings loosen, I humidify the inside of the case with orange peels or Dampits. No oil - no cracks.
I'm not sure oiling the bore of a clarinet does anything much for the clarinet. I guess it makes the clarinet's owner more comfortable.
Karl
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Author: lmliberson
Date: 2025-02-02 22:43
I recall reading a tidbit in the old "The Clarinet" magazine (not the current one) that was published back in the 1950's. It stated that one should never oil the bore as it deadens the sound. Besides, does oil really prevent cracks?
Whether that's true or not I'll never know for sure as I've not oiled the bore of any of my clarinets since getting my first Buffet in 1966. Have I had cracks? Yep, a few - but so what? They were pinned without incident and my instruments (and I) haven't suffered from it one bit. I really can't understand why people get so wrapped up in fretting about getting a crack. It's not the end of the world - just get it taken care of!
One of my teachers (back in the day) opined that it was the best wood that cracked. Well, I have no way of knowing or proving that either - on the other hand, perhaps some of my instruments have been made out of that "best wood"? 🤷🏻♂️
I, for one, will never oil the bore of my instruments - but do what makes you happy!
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2025-02-02 22:54
Hi Karl. Oiling does make me more comfortable. It was how I was taught, back in jr. high school. I've also had two instrument repair people - all the ones I've known, actually - advocate oiling. If it does any good or does nothing, I'm satisfied.
Donald mentioning that his wife oils her boxwood copies makes me smile. I have an old boxwood clarinet, a 5-key Metzler in C that belonged to my grandfather. It was stored for at least 50 years in an unheated shed in Vermont, where yearly temperatures ranged from -30F to over 100F. It was forgotten during that time and, needless to say, never oiled. Eventually I discovered it and moved it into the house. It needs a lot of work, including replacement of a missing key, but the wood has never cracked.
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Author: David H. Kinder
Date: 2025-02-03 00:23
Philip Everall gives a pretty good explanation as to why oiling your clarinet is a good idea and probably not for why we think.
https://youtu.be/V93M-kqnxaQ?si=6xjL8HnybiGnyZ1W&t=499
We oil the clarinet to have better protection from rapid changes in temperature and humidity.
But hey - it's not my instrument we're talking about.
Ridenour AureA Bb clarinet
Ridenour Homage mouthpiece
Vandoren Optimum Silver ligature (plate 1)
Vandoren #3 reeds
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Author: symphony1010
Date: 2025-02-03 12:52
It's certainly not to stop it cracking. I remember Boosey and Hawkes trying to pressure-treat their clarinets during a bad spell of cracking. The chief designer told me it was utterly useless as the oil hardly penetrated the wood.
In the UK we probably don't have the temperature and humidity concerns that exist in other parts of the world. Those B&H clarinets I had back in the 70s developed multiple cracks (and my father used to oil them religiously for me until we were told to do otherwise!). My Buffet and Selmer instruments have no cracks and no oil goes anywhere near them.
I don't think it would do any harm but I wouldn't want it anywhere near pads. In the old days the concern was very much about gumming up toneholes so I guess that would be my prejudice.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-02-03 14:33
I only oil the bore once all the keys and speaker (and/or thumb) tubes have been removed during a service or those occasions when all the pillars have been removed during a full overhaul. I prefer to oil the bore after the tenon corks have been replaced so the tenon slots aren't contaminated with oil, even though they can always be degreased if they do get oil on them.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: symphony1010
Date: 2025-02-03 15:23
Chris P wrote:
> I only oil the bore once all the keys and speaker (and/or
> thumb) tubes have been removed during a service or those
> occasions when all the pillars have been removed during a full
> overhaul. I prefer to oil the bore after the tenon corks have
> been replaced so the tenon slots aren't contaminated with oil,
> even though they can always be degreased if they do get oil on
> them.
>
I'd be happy with that!
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Author: crazyclari
Date: 2025-02-04 01:38
Hi, as noted previously.
Oiling the bore does not change the moisture absorbed by the wood. The oil is not significantly absorbed and really sits on the surface of the bore. Happy as always to provide the research, as previously provided. Research from the 60s nothing new. If the wood did absorb the oil likely it would put the wood under the same stress as water.
IMO if you are going to oil the bore (which I don't) I would use something with no/minimal lint so that you do not add oil and fluff to places like tone holes. The research also highlighted that the negatives of oiling outweighed the perceived gains. Fluffy brushes would be out.
IMO Buffet was very slow to respond to research. The research came out in the 60s. I have been recommending not oiling since the mid 80s in line with the research. People make decisions based on many things including warranties...
When I was repairing in a shop in about 2000, I first heard Buffet was not recommending oiling, not sure of the exact date. Flip that I don't know of any other manufacturer that has taken this stance, how slow are they.....
Its pretty understandable the clarinet world is entrenched in myth and resistant to change. Proper research is often not read. The UNSW has some great research if anyone is interested.
Someone presented research to show that oiling a clarinet produced a statistically significant change in the tone. Good or bad, players choice.
Post Edited (2025-02-04 04:30)
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Author: donald
Date: 2025-02-04 14:14
Yes, oiling the bore with a swab probably results in minimal absorption (though there are definitely lots of variables at play).
What is interesting is that when the wood is immersed in oil under pressure/vaccum it actually can absorb a lot of oil (enough that there can be a measurable difference in weight). This is really cool to watch- you can see little air bubbles escape from the wood etc even after it's been "soaking" for quite some time.
Btw, bassoonists often claim oiling a wooden bore wrecks the sound and response- I'm told the theory is that it raises microscopic burrs in the bore. I know of at least one (prima-dona) bassonist that "had to" sell his Heckel after a repairer oiled it without asking... this apparently destroyed the tone etc. Who knows.
Post Edited (2025-02-04 17:12)
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