 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2010-05-27 16:49
I purchased a 1921 Pan-American (Conn) student model. After changing a few pads and adjusting the bumper-corks, turns-out this is a very fine instrument.... well, I wouldn't use it for the Strauss Concerto, but its tuning and response is great.
However, the reed-chimney (or whatever you call that metal sleeve the reed goes into) is coming out! Only part way, but no matter how much cork grease I use, the chimney comes out easily.
I don't want to spend a fortune on repairing this instrument which I use for lunch-time outdoor practising. There must be a way to just glue it back in. Any ideas? I was thinking of epoxy.
Thanks.
Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2010-05-27 17:04
I wouldn't do it yourself. You have to make sure that 1. it's absolutely lined up with the bore, 2. it's rotated exactly the correct way, and 3. when you do glue it in, you have to make sure it seals perfectly.
1. A slight amount of glue on the side of the reed well might make it lopsided and not lay perfectly flat with the bore and so the reed well would be angled at a 175 or 170 degree angle rather than a 180 degree angle. This would affect the acoustics of the instrument.
2. Just because it looks perfectly circular, and there's a hole in the middle, doesn't mean the whole is smack dab in the middle. It's probably slightly off to one side or the other. A professional repair person would pull it out, look at it very closely, and determine how to line it up directly with the bore.
3. If you glue it in, and it doesn't seal, you're going to have one heck of a time getting it back out, and the whole instrument won't work. It'd be worse than having a crack through a tonehole.
I know John Peterson at RDG will do this kind of work, as he pulled the reed well out of an oboe I know of and put in an entirely new one. If you really like the oboe and want to use it and keep it for a while, I'd get it done right the first time rather than trying to figure out how to do it.
Cooper
Blog, An Oboe In Paradise
Solo Oboe, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-05-27 20:34
Glue it back in with shellac - and find a metal bar (brass, nickel silver or steel) that fits reasonably tight ('snug') in the reed socket - you can use this bar as a mandrel to mount the socket onto when heating up the socket to apply the shellac.
If it isn't centred properly with the bore, heat the bar up and insert it back into the socket until the shellac melts and then rotate it, then remove it and check it's on centre.
You can use epoxy to glue it in, but that takes ages to go off so best use shellac. Stick shellac (as used to glue pads in with, but use amber or black so it doesn't show) is best as you can make adjustments easily by getting it melted and having another go.
Any shellac that has gone into the bore can be broken out with a wooden stick and any excess on the joint surface can also be chipped off and then the residue cleaned off with alcohol.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-05-28 05:18
It will.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2010-05-28 10:02
I didn't know all that about shellac: I'll order some from Montreal. I was actually going to use carpenter's glue as it comes off easily with water or even heavily oilng the wood with sweet almond oil. However, there's no way to do adjustments. I've been using glue-gun for the cross-over keys: looks terrible but works amazingly. A razor blade easily flattens and shaves off slivers for a perfect adjustment.
The sleeve is very tight and there is no room for manoeuvre once any amount of adhesive is added. As for alignment, I don't know what experts do when "re-voicing" an oboe - I'm having that done to my Lorée right now - but looking inside this one shows so many bizarre misalignments and gaps its scary. Nonetheless, its tuning is dependable: some notes slightly high or low, but always at the same place no matter how I "hit" them.
Thanks for all your input.
Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-05-28 11:40
If in doubt, enlarge the hole in the bottom of the reed socket and you won't have any alignment problems. There's a step between the base of the staple and the top of the bore anyway (which is around 3.9mm maximum), so that's hardly going to affect anything by enlarging the hole in the reed socket.
Oboes aren't exactly a perfect instrument, so if there are misalignments in the bore at every joint, one more won't make much of a difference.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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