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Turning a barrel

Author: knotty
Date: 2015-06-03 19:18

I have the capability to turn small wooden items and was wondering what the critical specs are in making a barrel? Also the type of wood, I have rosewood and ebony.

Thanks!

~ Musical Progress: None ~

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Re: Turning a barrel

Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2015-06-03 23:17

The specs depend primarily on what make and model of clarinet the barrel is destined for.
The main ones are the diameter and depth of top and bottom sockets which clearly must fit the clarinet and mouthpiece.
The socket diameter should allow just a minimum of clearance, say about 0.004" to prevent rocking and avoid need for an overly firm cork to overcome the rocking.
The main parameter is the diameter(s) of the bore.
This is not necessarily the same as the exit diameter of the top of the upper joint.
Some clarinets work better with different venturi created by the step in bore introduced and similarly the bore is often not a simple cylinder but can introduced typically degrees of reverse taper(s) over part or the whole length of the barrel.

The diameter and shape of the outside can vary widely, just look at the many examples already on the market, depends a lot on what you are trying to achieve.

Likewise the overall length is dependent on the clarinet/mouthpiece/player tuning requirement - typically can range 62 -68mm on Boehm clarinets.

So in summary it's a complex art which really needs a deep understanding - however what have you got to lose by trying?

Post Edited (2015-06-03 23:19)

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Re: Turning a barrel

Author: knotty
Date: 2015-06-04 18:15

Thanks Norm, I'll know what to watch for. I'll try making the first ones with maple to get the technique down. If I'm to shape the inside of the bore, it'll take a different lathe setup than just a straight hole. It'll be very interesting to see how different bore shapes affect the sound. A good rainy day project.

~ Musical Progress: None ~

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Re: Turning a barrel

Author: Tony F
Date: 2015-06-04 20:12

If you were to bore the barrel oversize it would be possible to turn delrin inserts so that you could experiment with tapers, etc without having to turn a new barrel every time.

Tony F.

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Re: Turning a barrel

Author: knotty
Date: 2015-06-04 21:35

Thanks Tony, very interesting idea. It would be nice to turn just one barrel with different inserts of varying bore configurations.

~ Musical Progress: None ~

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