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Re: Question About Needle Springs

Author: Chris P
Date: 2020-02-14 19:02
Attachment: P5210002 (3).JPG (712k)
Attachment: P5210003 (2).JPG (703k)

You need the bend/curve/bias in the needle spring to provide the correct tension you need on any given key or sprung part of the mechanism.

At rest it should form a gentle arc (1st attached photo) and when hitched up to its spring catch, it should be straight as is demonstrated by pushing the free end with a spring hook (2nd attached photo).

If it's left straight and bent at an angle directly where it meets the pillar (or has been mounted in a hole drilled at an angle), then it will bow out between the pillar and spring catch. Sometimes needle springs need to have special bends formed in them for whatever reason and the spring should still retain its tension, but generally a single gentle curve is best.

On threaded pillars, needle springs should be biased in such a direction that they want to push the pillar in a clockwise direction as that will keep the pillar in position.

Sometimes they're sprung in the opposite direction and will want to turn the pillar anticlockwise and effectively unscrewing it which isn't good. The Ab/Eb spring in the attached photos is in the wrong pillar as that wants to unscrew the pillar, so it has to be hitched up once the key is fitted and the rod screw is tightened. Selmer have for some strange reason sprung the throat G# key on their clarinets in the lower pillar which makes refitting the G# key a pain if you want to hitch the spring up before fitting the rod screw as the pillar can rotate in the process.

Ideally these pillars should be anchored or locked in position with a locking screw to prevent them being undone by the spring tension. With anchored pillars (with a baseplate secured by one or two wood screws), the spring can be biased in any direction - likewise with pillars soldered to the body or to a baseplate as you see on flutes, piccolos and saxes. The LH F/C lever pillar in the attached photos (the one with the spring I'm pushing with a spring hook) is anchored so the direction of that spring's bias isn't an issue.

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

Post Edited (2020-02-15 01:22)

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