 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2025-07-09 02:52
For years the tenon between the two sections of my Bb has been slightly loose at the bottom, leading to some wobble between the sections if left unaddressed. My repair people, two different ones over the years, have corked that tenon so that the cork extends all the way to the bottom, somehow manually thinning the edge of the cork that overlaps the tenon rim so that, once installed, the external cork surface is smooth from edge to edge. The thinned cork edge adds diameter enough to avoid the wobble.
Problem is, no matter how carefully I put those sections together, and how diligently I grease the cork, eventually the thinned edge starts to fray and lose bits of coverage, and that process continues until the cork no longer adds enough diameter, and the wobble resumes. Every couple years I have to get it replaced again.
Is there a more permanent way to fix that tenon?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2025-07-09 03:07
Attachment: tenoncork2.png (1042k)
Yeah - have the tenon rings rebuilt so they fit much better in the sockets so they're neither binding nor wobbling.
I rebuild the tenon rings so they provide a rock solid fit in the sockets even without the tenon cork fitted. There's loads of different ways to do this - the usual being:
- Machine down the tenon rings, rebuild them with superglue and wood dust, then machine them down to size and recut the slot.
- Machine down the tenon, sleeve it with wood, ebonite, plastic or metal, then machine it down to size and recut the slot.
Tenons with metal tenon rings can either be removed and replaced with new ones fabricated, fitted and machined down to fit the socket, or the end of the tenon could be machined down and fitted with a solid metal ring that's machined down to fit the socket.
And make the tenon ring at the shoulder longer so it has more purchase in the socket compared to short ones. Many makers lave that tenon ring too short and some machine it off completely (eg. 1960s B&H clarinets).
No amount of cork will cure a wobbly tenon - the stability is down to the fit of the tenon rings in the socket.
I'm pretty sure I've talked at length about tenon fit in the past on here and elsewhere as it's an ongoing issue. You want the fit to be as good as tuning slides, flute headjoints and sax crooks in their sockets.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
Independent Woodwind Repair Specialist
Oboes, Clarinets and Saxes
NOT A MEMBER OF N.A.M.I.R.
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2025-07-09 09:25
I suggest the same as Chris, to build the tenon to a better fit, and I'd use the same methods he suggested.
One thing though, it might depend on local climate, but I don't fit the tenons to be very tight without cork like Chris described in the last paragraph. If I did this here then it would very quickly bind once the clarinet is played. Maybe this kind of fit works better in more humid areas, but here it could even be fit looser than that and still bind when played, so you have to take conditions and climate into account.
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