 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Heather F.
Date: 1999-05-19 22:50
In the last few weeks I have to apply cork grease to the joints every time I put my clarinet together. I've never had this problem before, what else can I do? Thanks
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Author: J. Butler
Date: 1999-05-20 00:31
Maybe its not your cork. In the spring and in certain climates the humidity level causes the wood to swell around the tenon joint. Also in response to Stuart, too much cork grease can deteriorate the glue that is holding the cork onto the wood. Always clean off the old cork grease before applying new or you can wear down the cork.
Look at it this way. What do you see on top of the oil spot that a car leaves on the pavement? Dirt, right? Grease and oil trap dirt. When you apply new grease without taking the old off your making yourself a oilbased sanding solution. Use a light oil and tissue to take off the old dirt. I apply key oil to the cork and then wipe with a tissue or paper towel. You'll actually see the cork turn a lighter color like when it was new. You are making the dirt float through the porous surface of the cork to the top.
If you suspect the wood is causing the problem put the affected tenon in the refrigerator for about thirty minutes. Please don't give me any flack on this one folks, because it works and there is not really any danger of cracking the wood unless you've just played your clarinet. If when you take out the joint and the clarinet goes together smoothly, then you know the wood is causing the problem. When the clarinet reaches room temperature oil the bore and store in a place where the humidity level is not so great. Good Luck.
J.Butler
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Author: Frank
Date: 1999-05-20 03:13
I use cork on the tenons every other time I put the clarinet together. I have had no problems with corks getting loose or crumbling. I have done as much for years. I have had no problems with dirt on the cork surface, either. I have my clarinets serviced every couple of years.
Are you letting moisture set in the sections of the clarinet?
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Author: J.Butler
Date: 1999-05-20 12:24
Frank wrote:
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I use cork on the tenons every other time I put the clarinet together. I have had no problems with corks getting loose or crumbling. I have done as much for years. I have had no problems with dirt on the cork surface, either. I have my clarinets serviced every couple of years.
Keeping the corks clean is important. I've had the same cork on my tenons (R-13) for about 10 years now and still good. 10 vs 2 sounds pretty good to me.
J. Butler
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Author: Keith
Date: 1999-05-20 12:58
Heather F. wrote:
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In the last few weeks I have to apply cork grease to the joints every time I put my clarinet together. I've never had this problem before, what else can I do? Thanks
My daughter had this same problem, and her band director suggested she (we) take it to a repair technician and have him shave the cork to elimate the sticking of the joints. As soon as the tech looked at her instrument he told me that it didn't need work by him, but that the problem was the clarinet was not being cleaned after each use. He showed me the saliva build-up inside the barrel and explained that the saliva was causing the wood to swell and causing the joints to stick. Try giving your clarinet a good cleaning and then leave your case open to allow the clarinet to "air dry" for a night or two.
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 1999-05-20 13:57
Heather F. wrote:
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In the last few weeks I have to apply cork grease to the joints every time I put my clarinet together. I've never had this problem before, what else can I do? Thanks
Heather -
Assuming you have a wood clarinet...
Escalate slowly. First, clean off all the gunk. Take a paper towel and clean absolutely everything off the tenon and out of the socket. Scrub the cork clean. Use your jeweler's screwdriver. (You do have one, right? If not, get one. They're only a dollar or two. It saves you from all kinds of disasters when a screw gets loose.) Use the screwdriver (or a pencil point) to poke the paper towel into the corners of the socket and the bottom of the tenon. Then put some cork grease just on the cork and try again.
If it still binds, and you're lucky, the only thing wrong is that the cork has swollen. It's hard to fix by hand yourself, since the cork is difficult to sand down evenly. A repair shop can fix it in a couple of minutes by putting the joint on a lathe, spinning it around and holding a strip of sandpaper against the cork.
However, the cork is only rarely the problem. Usually, the bottom socket of the barrel has swollen, causing it to bind against the tip of the upper joint top tenon. The way to tell: after you have played for an hour and you take the instrument apart, you feel a little "bite" when you remove the barrel from the upper joint. This means that the problem is not with the cork but with wood binding on wood.
THIS IS DANGEROUS and must be fixed right away. You will almost certainly crack the upper joint if you don't take care of the problem. Once again, this is a job for the shop, and not for you. However, the work must always be done by enlarging the barrel socket to its original size. You must be sure to tell the repair person not to take anything off the upper joint top tenon. Otherwise, you will never be able to change barrels.
It will help to prevent this from recurring if you make sure all the moisture is out of the barrel sockets before you put the instrument away. Swabbing is not enough. You have to wrap the swab around a finger and blot up all the water in the socket.
Even then, the wood will probably still swell, since it gets wet while you play. It's something we all have to live with and watch out for.
Good luck.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 1999-05-20 15:56
Excellent advice above. I would only add that cork grease, particularly the softer-lower-viscosity [cheap] brands do evaporate as well as soak into the cork deeply. I find I need to grease all corks after 2-3 playing sessions, and at times have the "wood-on-wood" binding action which I always attributed to humidity --- play and learn! Don
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