 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Martha E
Date: 2002-02-24 02:32
I have a decent-quality wooden Buffet clarinet that I used to play in high school and college (more than a decade ago). Since then, it has been sitting unused in a closet here in southcentral Washington, which has hot dry summers and cold dry winters.
I'd like to begin playing it again, but am extremely worried that the sudden change in humidity if I play it will cause it to crack.
Is there anything I can do to re-humidify the clarinet before playing it, so that it won't crack? Should I put it in a bathroom for a few hours after running hot shower water? Should I use a case humidifier (such as the sort used for guitars) ... and if so, for how long before I can play it? Or is none of this necessary?
Thanks in advance if you can give me some advice!
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Author: Clairgirl
Date: 2002-02-24 03:17
Ok, this is just from personal experience. I had a wooden student model leblanc that I used (i'm sorry!) for marching season and then gave to my mom to play. She used a cigar humidifier in the case to humidify the wood and she told me that the water was emptying out really fast... Like empty in a day or two. I can only suppose that my clarinet was really "thirsty" from having no humidity. I would try this for a week or two before using the instrument.
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Author: MsRoboto
Date: 2002-02-24 03:42
You should also consider following a regular break-in routine. Play for 15-30 minutes for the first month. Then increase to whatever you need to.
You can check the Boosey and Hawkes site for more information.
<a href=http://www.booseyandhawkes.com></a>
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-02-24 20:23
Well, there's nothing more thrilling than bashing a Hornet's nest, so here goes. This concerns oiling a clarinet, thus it is a remarkably controversial subject.
I do not believe it is good to humidify a dried-out Clarinet. In my view, a lot of water in the wood is very undesirable. If low humidity has helped it to become dry, this can be used to advantage by replacing that lost water with appropriate oil.
As local humidity goes up and down, water will leave and enter wood. No one has yet convinced me that this continuing change can be good for the instrument. Also, as the temperature goes down, water expansion just above the freezing point can rupture the wood. There is more than one story of a cracking Clarinet in cold weather that "sounded like a rifle shot."
Use oil to replace as much of that water as practical, and the above difficulties vanish. In practical terms, oil does not evaporate. Furthermore, oil will not expand as the freezing point of water is approached. And using proper oil can keep interstitial and vacant cell spaces within the wood loaded with a "friendly" substance, one which will not deteriorate the wood. I use "The Doctor's" oil. It is a wood oil with added ingredients which, among other things, deter bacterial growth and rancidity.
This is neither advice nor a recommendation. It's my opinion, based on what makes sense to me. I am now giving an old dried-out clarinet a long, slow treatment with oil. After a considerable length of time passes, I expect results will be favorable.
For now, weigh all the alternatives. I suggest you then do what makes sense to you.
Regards,
John
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Author: Roman Eller
Date: 2002-02-24 22:13
If you humdify it might shrink and you would have to go and resize your decor rings.
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Author: jbuter
Date: 2002-02-24 23:13
Humidify=shrink(?).......I think the opposite. Good advice about the bore oil IMHO. Oil does not evaporate, but will "wash" out in time. Also, playing the clarinet a few minutes each day is also good advice.
jbutler
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-02-25 04:51
Roman, you've got that backwards. That's how I noticed the instrument needed an oil treatment: I took it out after a long while of not playing it, and three rings fell off. The rings really are more than just decor. They keep the wood from splaying apart at the tenon sockets.
Regards,
John
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2002-02-25 08:48
I would agree with John that a good slow oiling would be more beneficial than trying to get dead wood to absorb water. If you look at a dead log in the bush/forest/woods they tend to rot if they get too wet. The playing in process should be used also ie. playing for short periods in the first week or two but after the instrument has been oiled. I have a collection of Albert/Simple system instruments from between 1870 and 1931 which I have restored. Most of these horns were so dry the rings had fallen off. A long slow oiling restored the wood back to size and allowed me to refit the rings with a flushbanding machine. None of these instruments has cracked subsequently and they have plenty of use.
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-02-25 17:10
This may be a crazy idea but this discussion made me wonder about using glycol antifreeze instead of oil. I realize it is not something you'd want to get in your mouth but....!! Anyone ever tried this?
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-02-25 17:10
This may be a crazy idea but this discussion made me wonder about using glycol antifreeze instead of oil. I realize it is not something you'd want to get in your mouth but....!! Anyone ever tried this?
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2002-02-25 22:48
Just got back from the "mother" of shows - TMEA - Geat Fun!
I met many old friends and customers stopped by with testimonials. Of course this is a biased and non-scientific sampling but many have revived stored horns with the slow oil rehydration technique done by themselves or by the hands of their technicians who have more experience than most of us at this procedure.
If plant derived oils are used they will have a certain water content (due to the layer of water surrounding the oils - Nature's answer to mixing oil and water) and the oil will impart needed water back to the wood structure (making it swell) but not water-logging the wood. As the micro structure of the wood swells back to it's normal structure it will again be able to absorb and buffer the water content of the wood. Much like cork structure, once the cellular structure of the wood has shrunken or collapsed it will no longer remain supple or retain the normal functions (compression and repounding). Of course there are limits to the "Lazarus" restoration of wood and some wood structure may be fractured and not restorable (the collapse of the pores and channels in the wood is usually possible). This procedure may not be a DIY if you do not have some experience.
Glycol is used by some wood lathe craftsmen to prevent checking and splitting of wood bowls turned on the lathe but the long term experience with this wood treated with various glycols is that they eventually crack and split more than plant derived oil treated wood. Any comments from wood craftsmen?
The Doctor
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Author: Martha E
Date: 2002-02-26 02:11
What is the slow oil restoration technique? Should I just wipe bore oil on the clarinet (using an oil-dampened rag inside) and then let it sit for a few days? Or is there a more complicated technique than that?
When I removed my clarinet from its case, a ring fell off. Obviously the wood has dried a bit since I last oiled and/or played the clarinet.
Thanks everyone for your help!
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-02-26 02:16
JMcAulay wrote:
<Well, there's nothing more thrilling than bashing a Hornet's nest>
this is fine, so long as you can run faster than the hornets can fly, in my experience.
:-)
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2002-02-26 12:34
Dear Martha,
The treatment is not a "dump cake" recipe but more like a chef making a "rue" - observing and modifying the conditions (time, temperature, oil, relative humidity, etc.) and therefore not for the novice unless they have the needed experience. Sometimes good products have adverse effects when used improperly and the treatment is often best left to experienced technicians.
I have been experimenting on a "Lazarus" kit with several different stepwise formulations of oil (since various plant derived oils have different penetration and hydration properties), a treatment chamber, and other necessary tools - but this is not ready for prime time quite yet.
The Doctor
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-02-26 13:43
JMc: appreciate your tongue in cheek response. I will probly try it on one of my "blown" instruments.
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-02-26 13:55
I have a video showing the boring of a fujara. The craftsman takes a green log with a natural curve in it, puts it in a straightening press and proceeds to hand bore the straight hole through it...mind you about 5 feet or so. When the bored log is removed from the press it resumes its natural curve...voila, a reasonably good hole through a one piece curved piece of wood. Glycol is the automotive answer to freezing of water and "theoretically" should prevent freezing of entrapped water in a wood clarinet. Is that a lemma?
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-02-26 14:40
Bob, the next time I require the boring of a fujara, my thoughts immediately will turn to you. Regarding the use of glycol, I have been wondering casually whether you are considering the use of propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, or perhaps some other, less common glycol.
And in answer to your query, I really don't think so. But it was interesting nonetheless. 
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