 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: Bobo
Date: 2011-11-02 21:17
About four years ago, I bought a small bottle of key oil. I've only used about a quarter of it, however. Does key oil have a shelf life?
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Author: Oboe Craig
Date: 2011-11-02 22:46
Provided its petrol-based and you store its container closed to avoid evaporation, it should have a half-life longer than any of us play in one lifetime.
I am still using key oil I bought in 1973...! Think I still have enough for 20 -25 more years, which should just about get me to the finish line.
Post Edited (2011-11-02 22:48)
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Author: Bobo
Date: 2011-11-03 13:14
Craig, good to know! Thanks. We should start a thread on stuff we've had for 4 decades that we're still using! I've still got tubes and even some cane!! Most of my reedmaking equipment, including my first shaper and knives...and of course one of my oboes, a D series Loree...
Post Edited (2011-11-03 13:24)
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Author: Oboe Craig
Date: 2011-11-04 00:16
I'll add to the list my Brannon- X shaper, my mandrels, and in the 2 and 3 decade range, a few remnants from pounds of cane linger about. Sharpening stones, too, although I've also progressed to ceramic sticks and diamond stones and a 'speedy sharp' I learned about from Kerry Willingham.
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Author: Ian White
Date: 2011-11-04 21:55
I've just been working on a bassoon that I last saw about 12 years ago & hasn't had any attention at all since & the oil I used is still fine. An oboe that is about 3 years old, on the other hand, has numerous sluggish keys due to the maker's oil drying out.
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Author: Oboe Craig
Date: 2011-11-04 23:42
On another oil angle.... anyone out here using synthetic oils or oils with Teflon?
Thinking about trying the Teflon stuff on my wind instruments....
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Author: johnt
Date: 2011-11-05 19:32
John Symer slices through all this oil kabuki by using gear oil for car manual transmissions & differentials on the oboes he repairs. He gave an extended seminar on oboe maintenance a few years ago at the Muncie, Indiana IDRS session via two-way video from his New Jersey repair shop. I asked him if automatic transmission fluid (ATF) would be good also; he said no problem. I like it because it smells better than gear oil & is red so much easier to see on application…also less messy. A quart will last several lifetimes & at $4 & change, the price is right. If you think it's wrong to be putting this stuff on your oboe keys, then go read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig.
A General precision oiler from Amazon or Ace Hardware completes the package. Dan Ross uses them to oil his gougers/oboes.
http://www.amazon.com/General-Tools-589-Precision-Oiler/dp/B000KKHNU0
Best,
john
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Author: Oboe Craig
Date: 2011-11-05 19:46
John,
'Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' applied to oboe service... I love it!
His chapter (long riff) on stuckedness is one of the most meaningful and useful lessons I've ever come across.
I paraphrase..."Every problem has a life of its own, and while you are toiling away and nothing seems to be changing, it is. The life of the problem is expending itself..."
It was certainly true even for my own stuck swab problem a few years ago. And keeping that lesson in mind as I toiled helped keep me sane through the 8 -12 hours it too me to remove the swab without hurting my oboe.
(I now possess a proper swab extractor and doing the fix with the wrong stuff also relates to another good lesson from 'ZEN".)
![[toast]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smiley15.gif)
-Craig
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Author: johnt
Date: 2011-11-05 20:21
HI Craig,
Great to hear from you, good friend. Geez Louise, we need to get together to hoist another few. Colorado not that far away nor is California. Mi casa es su casa.
I re-read your post above & should mention that Dan Ross recommends some dynamite cork grease: Superlube Synthetic Grease with PTFE (Teflon)…
available for $6.75 via Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Superlube-21030-Multipurpose-Synthetic-Grease/dp/B000XBH9HI
I use it on tenon corks only & stick with lanolin paste for the oboe tube corks.
Best,
john
Double
P. S. The part in that book that I love is when the snooty BMW motorcyle driver refuses to use a strip from an aluminum beer can to fashion a perfectly fine shim for his machine. Go figure.
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Author: johnt
Date: 2011-11-05 20:30
Craig,
Per above, if you dig a little farther into the website it's available from Ace Hardware for about half that.
j
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Author: Oboe Craig
Date: 2011-11-05 21:14
Hi John,
I hope to see you again soon. Thanks for the great info.
I also liked the part in Zen where the welder used non-traditional technique welding of aluminum (brazing I think, but its been over 30 years...) and his vast craftsmanship to fix the part. The magical hands of the true craftsman/artist...
I've thought of that portion often over the years while reed making, and while doing various chores around the house and cars.
And loved the explanation of setting the bike's points at altitude and the impacts of the cool of the morning air on that process.
-Craig
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