Author: ClaV
Date: 2015-02-24 08:23
Jamnik wrote:
> There is a lot of literature about oiling vs. not oiling and
> organic oil vs. petroleum based. Rather that write pages of
> what others have already done the research to, lets take a look
> at what we are trying to accomplish by oiling. We want to
> protect and preserve the wood. Wood that dries out can shrink
> and distort along with form cracks. Conversely, over
> moisturized wood can sometimes rot quicker, crack, and ruin
> pads quickly. The preservatives (oil) we use comes to two main
> categories of choices. Petroleum based, which chemically hates
> the presence of water (think WD-40) and replaces moisture in
> the wood with the more emulsive oil, and natural oils, which do
> tend to have a more tolerant relationship with water since they
> occur in nature together so they are less likely to repel but
> coexist. You can oil the bore with natural oil and a few days
> later see the residue on the outer surface. I cant speak about
> petroleum based oil because I have never used it, but
> theoretically it will continue to spread throughout the wood
> also, but how much moisture will it push out of the wood? Is
> it significant? Do some wood clarinets have more naturally
> occurring oil in them than other wood horns? I would bet yes.
> I think oiling is a case by case issue not an always or never.
> Theoretically you should want to keep the wood the way it was
> moisture and oil wise as when it was bored and the tone holes
> cut. Unfortunately we don't receive this "report" with a new
> instrument. More or less oil and moisture will play a tiny to
> rather large difference in original specs to current
> conditions. Hence, a cracked instrument. Something was not
> kept constant or changed too rapidly. This opens a whole new
> argument. Was the crack due to increased or lack of
> oil/moisture, introducing it too quickly, or too rapid of temp
> change in the wood? It could most likely be a combination
> also. It is my opinion that oil acts twofold in protecting the
> wood and slowing the absorption or dispersement of moisture.
> When I disassemble a clarinet completely (minus pillars and
> springs), I use a Q-tip with a drop of oil to clean all the
> tone holes. You should see some of the lovely scale these
> sometimes have to offer and I'm not talking about tone hole
> putty for tuning purposes! One day I will fix my crystal ball
> so that I will know the precise truth about oiling!
>
We may still need to agree on what is happening and even terminology.
I can't understand "emulsions" in the context. Emulsification requires an energy and an emulgator (surfactant). The Doctor referred to emulsions above in a slightly different context.
True, natural oils are more compatible with water. The "residues" can be natural wax that is often present - not necessarily a bad thing if spread out uniformly. Then the residues and unsaturated fatty acids make me use synthetic oil as a safer treatment. I can agree that it may be less effective, but it works and definitely helps, as I can witness with the microcracks on the outer surface.
My experience with cocobolo wood, which is more oily compared to grenadilla, suggests an opposite. More oily wood has more pores and then is more prone to oil leaching and then is more in need of oiling.
P.S. For the tone holes, plastic or metal inserts start to make more and more sense to me.
Post Edited (2015-02-24 08:48)
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