 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: LJBraaten
Date: 2025-09-09 21:20
I have a new middle tenon that’s a little loose, I sanded down the edges {of the newly installed cork*} a little too much, and the clarinet rocks a little. (After intervening with a little masking tape I found out it is also leaking a little.) I’ve seen other posts suggesting a thin layer of Tech cork over the existing cork rather than a whole new cork. My question is how do I safely clean off any remnants of cork grease without compromising the contact cement that’s holding the existing cork in place? Is sanding the only safe option? Any tips on installing the new cork so that the edges don’t catch and the new cork get ripped off while assembling the clarinet will be much appreciated!
*Edit: the beginning of this post should read that I sanded of the newly installed tenon CORK, not the tenon itself. I’ve corrected the post, sorry for any confusion.
Laurie (he/him)
Post Edited (2025-09-10 03:09)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-09-10 02:02
Attachment: tenoncork2.png (1042k)
Why did you sand the tenon ring down? You've buggered it up by sanding it and no amount of cork is going to help, as well as it being prone to being torn off during assembly.
If the tenon was binding in the socket, it's much better to scrape around the tenon ring by hand using a sharp scraper until the ideal fit in the socket is achieved. You'll see the high spots which will go shiny when you fit the tenon in the socket, so carefully remove those high (shiny) spots until things fit nice and neither binds nor wobbles.
The only real course of action is to machine down the tenon ring you've rounded off, degrease it well and build it up with superglue and wood dust or superglue and carbon fibre and then machine it down to the correct diameter so it fits nice and snug in the socket. Or fit a metal tenon ring (machined from brass or nickel silver) that's both the correct diameter in relation to the socket and also covers the end of the tenon.
If the tenon is slightly shorter than the socket and there's enough of a gap left when assembled, you may not even need to shorten the tenon. Otherwise you'd machine down the existing tenon ring and also shorten it by around 0.5mm at the most, then machine a metal tenon ring to fit nice and tight (an interference fit) and glue it on as well with either epoxy or superglue.
When fitting any tenon cork, make it barrel shaped instead of leaving the edges completely square as seems to be popular in America. To sand the tenon cork nice and evenly, you can mount the joint in your lathe and sand it down whilst it's spinning to get the ideal shape. Then check the new tenon cork will go around 2/3 into the socket whilst still dry, then apply cork grease once you've got a good fit as it's not easy to sand greasy tenon corks down. See attachment which is from a Buffet where I had to rebuild both tenon rings as the tenon rocked around like anything.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repairer
Single and Double Reed Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: LJBraaten
Date: 2025-09-10 02:53
Chris P said:
“Why did you sand the tenon ring down? You've buggered it up by sanding it and no amount of cork is going to help, as well as it being prone to being torn off during assembly.“
I sanded the tenon cork after I installed it because it was too thick. I’ve probably done 20 of these and I’ve never had one that fit just right. The directions with the cork and given by everyone else say sanding is required. I just happened to sand too much off on this one.
“ When fitting any tenon cork, make it barrel shaped instead of leaving the edges completely square as seems to be popular in America. ”
That’s what I always do, and what I did here. It is the source of my problem. I sanded too much off the edges and that’s why the clarinet wobbles.
It appears my OP wasn’t clear. I didn’t sand the tenon per se, I sanded the newly installed cork. I corrected the problem, I apologize for the confusion
Laurie (he/him)
Post Edited (2025-09-10 03:16)
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