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Re: Cork Pads

Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2006-05-28 10:12

"The cork pads do not really have a "brand" as such when they are marketed.

My cork pads come from music Center in Italy, or from Kraus. No matter who the supplier, they are probably all sourced form only 1 or 2 manufacturers in Portugal, of which SA Rosa (in Portugal) is one who as far as I know, sells direct to the public... http://www.novitasrosas.com/

An easy source for cork pads is Musicmedic
http://www.musicmedic.com/catalog/categories/cat_12.html

I used to use the cream "French" shellac sticks, supplied by Ferrees, Allied, etc, but had to change when I bought a higher grade of (bladder) pad which had a surface on the back to which the shellac did not stick well. Now I use glue pellets from JL Smith, in preference to Georges Glue, because there is a visual sign when the glue is at a suitable temperature.

Often I see no need to further prepare a quality cork pad's surface.

The pad cup heater mentioned can be seen at
http://www.votawtool.com/zcom.asp?pg=products&specific=jnprjnl0

A soldering gun with its tip split in two can indeed be used instead, and is a lot cheaper, but the voltage of these varies quite a lot, and those with higher voltage will arc to the key cup and damage the surface. (My Weller soldering gun seemingly operates at only about 0.2 volts. My Votaw keater operates at about 4 volts, but has carbon electrodes, which perhaps have less inclination to arc.) The cheaper the gun, the higher the voltage is likely to be.

However, by far the most common method of heating a clarinet key cup is with a flame. The non-flame heater is used for much more risky situations such as on piccolo or oboe, or difficult-to-access keys on soprano sax.

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