 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: m1964
Date: 2025-04-26 09:41
Hello,
I never encountered a leak like this so decided to ask for help.
Prelude: before installing new pads I usually seal all the tone holes (using children's putty) and check if the joint holds air pressure and vacuum, just in case...
Usually, a joint would hold both pressure and vacuum.
Not this time - it is leaking slightly and does not hold vacuum. This is an upper joint.
Eventually, I found the leak. The air is coming out from the screw hole under the mount for the C#/G# key. I am sure the leak is from the lower screw hole, may be from both.
Looked inside- the bore looks fine, no cracks. Outside, the surface is fine, no cracks either.
I am thinking of two possible ways to fix the problem:
1. Put some slow-drying superglue in the hole. But then it may be difficult to fit the screw in after the glue dries.
2. Put some bee wax in but I cannot think of a way to introduce the wax all the way down. Maybe, put some bee wax into the hole, then put a very thin screwdriver or just a piece of wire into the hole and keep heating it until the bee wax melts.
Did anyone had this problem and how did you solve it?
Thank you.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-04-26 16:18
I've had this with pillar holes and even spring slots milled into the joints where air can leak through vessels or defects in the wood itself. It's best dealt with using low viscosity superglue.
Here's a line that'll stick in your head (delivered in a 1930s Received Pronunciation accent):
DON'T USE WAX TO SEAL UP CRACKS!
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2025-04-26 18:32
For me it was one of the posts of the throat A key on a Buffet Greenline. It appeared to be the result of the of pilot hole being drilled too far.....just into the bore. I used super glue and put the post immediately back in (and square with the other post using the axle to ensure correctness). Super glue shouldn't form an unbreakable bond in this situation, but it will seal the hole.
.............Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Tony F
Date: 2025-04-26 20:49
I've come across this problem several times. Mostly it is just holes drilled too deep, but in a couple of cases the wood itself was porous. I found this by plugging all the tone holes and the ends of the joint using laboratory rubber bungs. I drilled one of the end bungs and passed a brass tube through it and then pressurized the joint while it was submerged in soapy water. The leak is obvious. The fix was to oil the bore with a polymerizing oil, in this case raw linseed oil. Fixed the problem and about 20 years later it still doesn't leak.
Tony F.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: m1964
Date: 2025-04-26 22:04
Thanks a lot to everyone who replied.
No bee wax, I am in between using superglue or epoxy.
Update: put very thin superglue into both holes, sucked air from the joint in order to pull the glue into the wood and now the joint holds both pressure and vacuum.
I realize now that putting bee wax would not be a good long-term solution
Post Edited (2025-04-27 08:24)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: clarnibass
Date: 2025-05-04 08:59
I prefer to put thin super glue at the very bottom, using something like a needle spring, without it touching the threads, then use fast epoxy (e.g. 5-minute) and thread the post back.
When it comes to leaks from the clarinet body itself, post/pillar holes are actually the most common. Sometimes it's from drilling too deep so it gets into the bore to an invisible degree (or in extremely rare cases... not invisible). More often it's simply the thinning of the body wall at that point that is just the porosity of the wood itself. I've seen a clarinet that had several leaks at completely random areas of body.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: m1964
Date: 2025-05-05 05:48
clarnibass wrote:
> When it comes to leaks from the clarinet body itself,
> post/pillar holes are actually the most common. Sometimes it's
> from drilling too deep so it gets into the bore to an invisible
> degree (or in extremely rare cases... not invisible). More
> often it's simply the thinning of the body wall at that point
> that is just the porosity of the wood itself. I've seen a
> clarinet that had several leaks at completely random areas of
> body.
Well, it was the first one for me...
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: crazyclari
Date: 2025-05-05 16:03
If required you can finish down any overflow/residual glue with super glue remover and a cane skewer dampened in the remover.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
