 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: m1964
Date: 2025-04-26 09:41
Hello,
I never encountered a leak like this so decided to ask for help.
Prelude: before installing new pads I usually seal all the tone holes (using children's putty) and check if the joint holds air pressure and vacuum, just in case...
Usually, a joint would hold both pressure and vacuum.
Not this time - it is leaking slightly and does not hold vacuum. This is an upper joint.
Eventually, I found the leak. The air is coming out from the screw hole under the mount for the C#/G# key. I am sure the leak is from the lower screw hole, may be from both.
Looked inside- the bore looks fine, no cracks. Outside, the surface is fine, no cracks either.
I am thinking of two possible ways to fix the problem:
1. Put some slow-drying superglue in the hole. But then it may be difficult to fit the screw in after the glue dries.
2. Put some bee wax in but I cannot think of a way to introduce the wax all the way down. Maybe, put some bee wax into the hole, then put a very thin screwdriver or just a piece of wire into the hole and keep heating it until the bee wax melts.
Did anyone had this problem and how did you solve it?
Thank you.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-04-26 16:18
I've had this with pillar holes and even spring slots milled into the joints where air can leak through vessels or defects in the wood itself. It's best dealt with using low viscosity superglue.
Here's a line that'll stick in your head (delivered in a 1930s Received Pronunciation accent):
DON'T USE WAX TO SEAL UP CRACKS!
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2025-04-26 18:32
For me it was one of the posts of the throat A key on a Buffet Greenline. It appeared to be the result of the of pilot hole being drilled too far.....just into the bore. I used super glue and put the post immediately back in (and square with the other post using the axle to ensure correctness). Super glue shouldn't form an unbreakable bond in this situation, but it will seal the hole.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2025-04-26 20:49
I've come across this problem several times. Mostly it is just holes drilled too deep, but in a couple of cases the wood itself was porous. I found this by plugging all the tone holes and the ends of the joint using laboratory rubber bungs. I drilled one of the end bungs and passed a brass tube through it and then pressurized the joint while it was submerged in soapy water. The leak is obvious. The fix was to oil the bore with a polymerizing oil, in this case raw linseed oil. Fixed the problem and about 20 years later it still doesn't leak.
Tony F.
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Author: m1964
Date: 2025-04-26 22:04
Thanks a lot to everyone who replied.
No bee wax, I am in between using superglue or epoxy.
Update: put very thin superglue into both holes, sucked air from the joint in order to pull the glue into the wood and now the joint holds both pressure and vacuum.
I realize now that putting bee wax would not be a good long-term solution
Post Edited (2025-04-27 08:24)
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