 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bb
Date: 2002-02-26 15:16
should the corks be wiped when I put my clarinet away??
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2002-02-26 15:38
Maybe once a week or so, take a paper towel, rub some fresh cork grease on your corks, then use the paper towel to wipe off the corks, taking off as much of the grease off as you can. This will clean most of the grime and old grease off. Then apply fresh cork grease and you're good to go. Every day is too often. I would also recommend the specialized cork lubricants sold by "The Doctor" (Dr. Omar Henderson, a Sneezy sponsor) --- they're are demonstrably better than the usual store-bought stuff.
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Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2002-02-26 16:09
David - good advice about the paper towel (a slight amount of abrasiveness and may also get into the nooks and cranies). The purpose of the cork of course is to make an airtight seal between the joints and therefore requires compression and expansion as well as the lubricating qualities to make the joints fit together easily. The trouble with petroleum based products "most chapstick" brands is that they destroy the cellular structure of the cork over time and the cork cells collapse and will no longer expand. Over time the petroleum based greases will soak through the cork and loosen the glue holding the cork to the tenon. They also tend to turn the cork a darker (almost black in some cases) color and patches may flake off. If you apply finger pressure to the cork you should feel compression-expansion and if the fit of the tenon in the socket becomes loose it quite possibly is the terminal compression of the cork.
Remember, cork is a wood product and petroleum based products are not friendly to wood (either the mineral oil sold as bore oil or the petroleum based cork greases). Wood impregnated with petroleum based oils undergoes its own kind of rotting (destruction of the cellular structure of the wood) and the wood - cork will loose function (holding posts into the wood, grease will soak into the end grain of the wood on the tenon, and the compression - expansion of cork).
The Doctor
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-02-26 20:58
Hello Doctor
Thanks for the science lesson! I always wondered about cork grease and cork. Do you have any suggestions about alternative "cork friendly" grease?
diz (male) sydney (australia)
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Author: Bb
Date: 2002-02-26 21:16
Oh my!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been using vaseline all along! Better switch back to the cork grease that came with the clarinet ( man I hate those )
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2002-02-26 21:33
The 'Doctor' is prohibited from answering diz's question at risk of posting a commercial promotion, so I'll answer it: Check the Sneezy sponsors list under "The Doctor's Products" --- he does indeed sell a few varieties of 'cork grease alternates' you should try. And Bb: Save the Vaseline for your lips and hands!!!
(by the way, I used to live in Greenbelt, not at all far from Hyattsville, eh?)
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-02-26 23:37
David: thanks mate! On ya! (pardon mu aussie vernacular)
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Author: jim lande
Date: 2002-02-27 03:02
I bought a bunch of vials of the Dr's beeswax/olive oil/slippery elm bark/lord knows what else. It hurts me to realize how many years I used the wrong stuff. Thank you Dr.
1) Yes, the chapstick stuff (which I now use only as chapstick -- no real difference, except for perfume & flavor) really does go through the cork and dissolve the contact cement that many of use when recorking a joint.
2) Dr Slick feels better putting it on and smells good.
3) It is much slicker, allowing the cork to compress more. This means when I recork a joint, I sand off less cork. This means better fit and longer cork life.
4) It seems to last longer.
The only disadvantage is that when other reed players borrow the little tub, they don't give it back. Who thought I would need to buy more so soon!
On a related subject, I am pretty sure that the Dr's key oil is worth the price. I won't tell you I can feel the difference when I play. However, I sweat like a metal clarinet played outside in the cold. I sweat so much the hinges in my glasses seize up every couple months -- salt accumulation or corrosion, not sure. Last summer I tried using the Dr's key oil. It has been six months and the arms still swing free. So, as long as you are ordering cork grease, try the key oil, too.
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Author: Gregory Smith
Date: 2002-02-27 03:20
I use the Doctor's Dr. Slick on all of my mouthpieces and clarinet corks. It's an astounding leap forward for such a seemingly simple application....especially for those of us always seeming to need a new cork joint because of the cork compression leading to wobbly joint syndrome (as the Dr. describes above). Bravo Omar! Less trips to the repairman and more time to make music.
G. Smith
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-02-27 09:39
Bb. Do you realise that most, if not all, of the grease that comes with instruments is junk compared with what has been dicussed above.
This, along with many other things, is what our manufacturers do NOT do well. They are just far too profit driven to offer us a top quality cork grease.
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