 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2014-03-21 01:56
Hello all,
I'm currently working on a vintage German clarinet from about 1900, the kind that does not have the tiny screws for the spring. Two of the springs are broken and I'm not sure how to get them off to replace them. I see that the pin holding them on goes all the way through the key. Is it something I can remove with a punch? I also heard somewhere that they needed to be soldered on. Is this true?
Thank you in advance!
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Author: modernicus
Date: 2014-03-21 02:54
The Boehm system clarinet was developed around 1840...Anyway he isn't talking about the spring stuck in a post, but it sounds like a flat spring with a peened sort of pin instead of a screw holding it, correct?
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Author: jdbassplayer
Date: 2014-03-21 03:08
modernicus wrote:
> The Boehm system clarinet was developed around 1840...Anyway he
> isn't talking about the spring stuck in a post, but it sounds
> like a flat spring with a peened sort of pin instead of a screw
> holding it, correct?
Yes that is correct.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-03-20 23:20
You can drill the rivets out, then fit new ones into the holes (made from nickel silver rod of the correct diameter) and flatten them on an anvil to hold the spring in place, then file, paper up and polish the top side so it's flush and smooth with the touchpiece. There should be a slight countersink on the top side to allow the rivet to take purchase and so there's still enough flattened out to prevent it coming loose once it's filed down.
Or you could drill part or all way through the touchpiece, tap it out and use the same sized screws so the flat springs can be replaced much easier if they break in the future. The ends of the screws showing on the touchpiece can be filed/papered/polished smooth - you'll see a lot of older simple systems have the ends of the screw showing up as a dot in contrast to the touchpiece.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-03-21 15:28
Just to add - "non-Boehm" is a better term than "pre-Boehm" to categorise any type of clarinet with fingering/keywork system other than Boehm system (which is actually Klose-Buffet system as Theobald Boehm didn't have anything to do with clarinets). So that includes all simple/Albert systems, Clinton systems, German and Oehler systems (to name a few) which are all non-Boehms.
All of which were being made alongside Boehm system clarinets or further developed during the time Boehm system clarinets were already established. Boehm (Klose-Buffet) systems are a separate system which was a complete reworking of the clarinet from the ground up, just as the cylindrical Boehm system flute (in wood and metal) was a complete reworking of the old simple system conical wooden flutes of the time.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2014-03-21 18:15)
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Author: Dibbs
Date: 2014-03-21 19:48
Good point Chris. I read your first reply and I was thinking, "wouldn't it be brass rather than nickel silver and they'd need to make a brass spring too". Then I read the OP properly and it said the instrument was from 1900.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2014-03-22 00:58
On old instruments I think many of the flat springs used to be nickel silver too. It does become quite springy when work hardened by beating or rolling. They tended to have a stiff and nasty feel.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-03-22 03:55
And the way they're sprung (the free end is nearest the key barrel), they dig into the body when the keys are pressed or wear out the metal saddles inset into the body to make them run smoother.
When exactly was the flat spring mounted in the way we're accustomed to nowadays with the free end at the touch end and screwed on beyond the key barrel on the pad cup side?
Apart from the trill key springs on clarinets which haven't got any room under the key barrels to run (and are often mounted in the ancient way), the majority of flat springs are mounted in this way.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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