 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-08-03 17:10
I have observed that several members of the adult concert band I play in never seem to grease their corks at all. One simply uses a little saliva applied to his finger to wet the corks, and two others just leave the corks dry....so much that when these two ladies are assembling their clarinets or adjusting the barrels and middle joints for tuning, the instruments make a scary (to me) scratchy squeak.
Outside of wearing out corks faster due to increased friction, are there ill side effects to not greasing the corks? Is this common among other people here?
Jeff
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Author: lrooff
Date: 2009-08-03 17:23
I see two major risks in not using cork grease... First, if it's necessary to use excess force to assemble and disassemble the instrument, keys can get bent. Secondly, I've seen clarinets where the joints are frozen together and require the services of a pro to disassemble them. Manufacturers don't recomment cork grease just because it's a big money-maker for them. (It isn't...) It's there for a good reason.
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Author: mrn
Date: 2009-08-03 17:36
The less you grease your corks, the more force you are likely to have to apply to assemble the instrument. With more force comes a greater likelihood of bending keys. Bending keys can cause all kinds of problems, including little hidden leaks that make the instrument much harder to play.
And then, of course, there is the problem of not being able to take the instrument apart if the corks decide to swell on you.
That being said, in my school days I didn't grease my corks very often either because I used this really slick stuff designed as a double-duty tuning slide and cork grease. Just a little bit of that stuff went a long way (and lasted a very long time, too).
Post Edited (2009-08-03 17:37)
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Author: Iceland clarinet
Date: 2009-08-03 17:39
Well my teacher simply put the joint cork into his mouth and give it a lick and then he complain when I suck out water from tone holes and says that I will get all kinds of bacterials and will catch cold and stuff like that. Well I told him to stop this terrible habit and to start using the cork grease from the Doctor. Simply the best around.
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Author: JJAlbrecht
Date: 2009-08-03 18:06
That's what I use, too.
I also wonder if not greasing corks poses a danger to the tenons.
Jeff
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2009-08-03 19:31
Dry cork acts like a mild abrasive and each assembly/disassembley wears a minute amount of material from the corresponding socket. Over time the socket becomes enlarge resulting in a wobbly joint that no thickness of cork will make firm. The repair to fix this is very expensive and will more than pay for a lifetimes supply of good cork grease.
Like Lelia above I can think of no reasons not to grease the cork (apart from either laziness or stupidity).
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2009-08-03 20:11
In a situation where the lower joint tenon got stuck in the bell of a Greenline, the force that was required to attempt separation caused the Greenline material to break very much like press-board.
Use cork gease.
..................Paul Aviles
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Author: BobD
Date: 2009-08-03 20:39
What are the ill effects of not greasing the wheel bearings on your auto?
Bob Draznik
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2009-08-04 00:33
Unless the joints go together "very easily" one should always apply cork grease to either the cork or the joint the cork is going into. In any case the cork should never get to dry because it will crack off when one least wants it to or get stuck when trying to get it apart.
By the way, I wet the corks in my mouth when I put the mouthpiece back on after swabbing it but that's after I've already used cork grease when putting the clarinet together in the first place. Even though the Doctors cork grease is very high quality I've always used the regular grease you get from any music store or mail order store and it works just fine. I've been using that stuff for over 50 years and never had a problem with nor have I ever gotten sick from placing the cork in my mouth. ESP http://eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2009-08-04 05:12
The real mystery is:
Where does all that cork grease go? Seems like, after a few years, the cork would get saturated, but NO. I just keep plying them with grease, and it just keeps going away someplace.
Bob Phillips
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2009-08-04 11:53
"Where does all that cork grease go? Seems like, after a few years, the cork would get saturated, but NO. I just keep plying them with grease, and it just keeps going away someplace."
Now THAT is a way to bring up sales!
Post Edited (2009-08-04 13:15)
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2009-08-04 13:24
"Where does all that cork grease go?"
Same place that the yellow went with Pepsodent toothpaste.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: vjoet
Date: 2009-08-04 18:00
I used one of the expensive, high-end, all natural cork greases for about a year and a half, but have now gone back to the "every music store has it type." In the last 4 months I had the glue holding the cork fail on 2 different joints, and I never had a failure prior to the high-end grease. I'm not stating it dissolved the glue, for I have no proof, as it could just be co-incidence. But I'm back with the "Micro" brand version.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2009-08-04 18:12
vicet: it could be that years of using the non-high end prior to using the hi-end finally caught up with you. In my experience the "high end" isn't as "juicy" as the cheaper stuff and may put more stress on the cork/tenon junction.
Bob Draznik
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2009-08-04 18:55
Never had a problem in over 50 years of playing and using the generic brands of cork grease, never. As far as where does the cork grease go, the same place that the wear on your tires go though though in this case to cork grease heaven, or hell. ESP
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Author: ABerry
Date: 2009-08-04 19:31
I remember reading here, cork grease was used "in a pinch" as chap stick...I wonder if the reverse would work "in a pich"....
Alseg, Do they still make Pepsodent? And are they still wondering where the yellow went?
Allan
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Author: Rusty
Date: 2009-08-04 20:19
Music stores around my location just sell the stupid little tubes of cork grease. I want a 50ml. or 100ml. jar. I live in Aus. so don`t quote a U.S. store, but where can I buy a larger quantity or better still what else, that is readily avaailable, can I use?
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2009-08-05 00:58
Or buy Alisyn by the pound, which is what I have done for decades.
http://aerospacelubricants.thomasnet.com/viewitems/market-musical-instrument-lubricant/alisyn-cork-slide-grease?&forward=1
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2009-08-05 02:18
Before using the doctor's cork grease, I used plain lip balm for years. If you can find something that is uncolored and unflavored it should work fine.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2009-08-05 03:06
Bob wrote "Where does all that cork grease go? Seems like, after a few years, the cork would get saturated, but NO. I just keep plying them with grease, and it just keeps going away someplace."
Excellent question.
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2009-08-05 03:21
Now, Crest, would polish up your tenon sockets!
Remember Alfred E. Newman used Crud Toothpaste --with Framistan.
Bob Phillips
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