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Re: 1830's Boxwood clarinet help

Author: Simon Aldrich
Date: 2019-01-13 08:33

Hi Anna,

Ted Planas (bio: http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/59662096/edward-ted-planas-woodwind-technologist) wrote the following in the February 1983 edition of "Clarinet and Saxophone":

"If you have a boxwood  instrument, antique or new, oil it with one of the oxidising vegetable oils  such as linseed oil (boiled or raw) and almond oil. The wood will absorb  some of the oil (it does not penetrate very far) but if the oil is rubbed in well and the excess is wiped off, it will oxidise (harden) reasonably  quickly in about 2 or 3 days and form a very good surface finish - almost a  varnish. (In fact, before the advent of modern plastic-based paints, the  gloss in gloss paint was boiled linseed oil). If this treatment is repeated  from time to time (more frequently when the instrument is new) it will  certainly help to reduce the absorption of water. However, boxwood is very  good at absorbing water - the instrument maker Mahillon remarked that it was  more suitable as a hygrometer than as a musical instrument."

If you are in a rush, you can oil the clarinet in a vacuum infusion chamber. When I took a classical-era clarinet-making course in Cambridge, England (https://www.cambridgemakers.org/i-would-like-to/our-courses/classical-clarinet-making/) the maker/teacher Daniel Bangham had devised a vacuum chamber in which one immersed the boxwood clarinet joints. In such a vacuum, one can see air bubbles emerge from the boxwood joints, as air is displaced by oil!

Simon

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