 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: dieter
Date: 2005-04-30 17:10
This will probably sound like a stupid question, but can cracks be mistaken for graining in the wood? I searched the board for threads on cracks and got all worried about my new clarinet.
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Author: hans
Date: 2005-04-30 17:52
diether,
One of my clarinets has a crack in the bell that follows the grain so that it is almost impossible to see. It doesn't affect playability and I don't worry about it.
If you want to find out for sure if you have a crack, a repair tech can confirm it for you, which is better than worrying about it.
Regards,
Hans
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Author: Clarinetgirl06
Date: 2005-04-30 22:46
I've had 6 cracks in my clarinet, so I am pretty experienced with what they look like.
Hans- I've read or heard somewhere that a crack will NEVER go with the wood grain. Can someone back me up on this? I'm not 100% sure, but from all 6 that I've had, none of them have gone along the wood grain.
Dieter- I'm not sure, but I remember seeing something that said that if the wood grain is very open, then it could be a sign that your clarinet could be very susceptible to cracking. Again, can anyone verify?
Like Hans said, go to a repair person, a director, or a fellow musician who has had cracks in their horns. If you live in KC, I'll check it out for you. hehe.
I hope your horn is fine though-cracking is the pits!
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2005-05-01 01:28
Clarinetgirl06 wrote "I've read or heard somewhere that a crack will NEVER go with the wood grain... Can someone back me up on this? .. "
Sorry, I can't.
In my repairing experience I would say that, unless 'wood grain' has a different meaning to you and me, that most cracks follow the wood grain most of the time. They most certainly don't go perpendicular to the grain, or anywhere near it. However often the crack follows the grain for a while and then jumps to following some PARALLEL grain, especially where th crack crosses a tone hole or other drilling or milling into the timber.
Clarinetgirl06 wrote"I'm not sure, but I remember seeing something that said that if the wood grain is very open, then it could be a sign that your clarinet could be very susceptible to cracking. Again, can anyone verify? "
Again, no. I have noticed no correlation at all. But perhaps it should be said that on a good proportion of clarinets one cannot tell how open the grain is because the grain has been filled with a black 'goo'.
Dieter wrote "....can cracks be mistaken for graining in the wood?"
Not to the experienced eye. I suppose most definitive clue in the less obvious cases is that cracks have a very sharp edge between the crack walls and the outside surface of the clarinet. also, for a crack, the width also tapers gradually at the ends (except when they stop at a tone hole etc) to no width at all. By comparison, grain has much more rounded ends.
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2005-05-01 01:55
Often cracks some in pairs. So if you see one, have a look for another (Backun told me that).
A Band Director student of mine just got a new Buffet Bass Clarinet and it had 2 cracks in it - came that way.
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Author: Joel Clifton
Date: 2005-05-01 03:51
Once, when flinging water out of the bell joint of my R-13, it slipped out of my hand and hit the hard floor. I examined it after freezing from sheer terror for several seconds, and there's a tiny crack going most of the way up. It's almost invisible, but it doesn't look like grain. It's longer and darker, and it slowly narrows to nothing, unlike grain.
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"You have to play just right to make dissonant music sound wrong in the right way"
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Author: dieter
Date: 2005-05-02 20:54
Thanks all for your help. From what I've read, my case definitely isn't that worse. Upon closer investigation I'm almost sure it's only the grain. I will have it checked soon when I'll be having the keys silver plated.
Clarinetgirl06: I hate to disappoint you, but I'm European ... I could allways come on a holiday though ![[rotate]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smiley25.gif)
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