 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2019-07-11 22:14
Wine corks aren't the best things to make cork pads from as they're not high quality cork and have pores running parallel with the surface that can cause dips or leaks if the surface layer is thin and there's not much support under them.
You're best using commercially available cork pads made from high quality cork with as few imperfections as is possible (hence the massive increase in price with the increase in diameter).
Even with the best quality pads, you will still have to prep them to make sure they're both flat and have no imperfections on the face of them and likewise the tonehole bedplaces are level and defect-free to ensure a perfect airtight seal.
Some people believe cork pads are prone to leaking, but that's a lie and usually spouted by people who have little experience of using cork pads and installing them so they seal well. I prefer to cork pad oboes throughout and prefer never to use skin pads, only using leather pads for the three largest pad cups if I have to.
Another thing that will compromise things is if key fitting is sloppy, so make sure key fit I done to minimise any rocking by swaging key barrels on their appropriate rod screws. Some keys do require lateral play between the pillars - usually the cross mounted keys (1st 8ve rocker, side G#-A trill key, forked F vent and its rocker, low Eb and C# pad cups) as they're the first ones to bind up with changes in humidity. On plastic oboes you will need lateral play between keys and pillars on all keys relative to their lengths, so keys with longer key barrels need more lateral play compared to short key barrels to be sure nothing binds up when playing outdoors or in cold churches.
What tools have you used to get your toneholes level and how to you prep your cork pads to make sure they too are all nice and flat?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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steve1221 |
2019-07-04 08:31 |
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Chris P |
2019-07-04 23:39 |
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steve1221 |
2019-07-05 09:22 |
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steve1221 |
2019-07-05 09:23 |
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Chris P |
2019-07-05 18:36 |
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steve1221 |
2019-07-06 05:13 |
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Chris P |
2019-07-11 22:14 |
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steve1221 |
2019-07-13 07:15 |
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