Author: cjwright
Date: 2006-11-29 04:01
Okay... Cracks are real tough, so don't jump to conclusions.
This time of year, particularly in the midwest where you are, the temperature is drying out so therefore it's kind of the cracking time.
Superglue is a quick fix, and sometimes it lasts, other times it doesn't.
The reason why oboes crack this time of year is because the wood loses moisture and therefore it shrinks. As it shrinks, the wood can't hold together and therefore pulls apart.
Now, since your oboe has cracked, and you've filled it with Superglue, you're in kind of a jam.
First you need to keep it somewhat humidified. If you put some orange peel in the case that usually works. Or, if you prefer, cut off a chunk of sponge and get it moist (don't FILL it with water, but wring out the excess) and put it where your reed case would be in the case. That keeps it humidified.
If you don't, you risk the danger of the crack going FURTHER. Since there's a weakness, it will want to crack even longer, just as a tear in your jeans will want to spread longer.
The problem however, is if your oboe gets too moist, it will expand, and close back up. But now there's this problem: you got superglue where it wants to expand back to. So what is it going to do? It's going to CRACK even more around the superglue because it wants to expand into that area. So now you have a real problem! (This doesn't always happen, but I've seen it happen many times.)
This is why oboists send their oboe to a professional. The repairman usually stabilizes the oboe by putting it in a humidity-controlled setting for a couple days until the crack shuts closed by itself. Then, they'll drill small holes, put pins in, and fill it up (some do it so well that you can't even tell where it is. I suggest RDG, John does an awesome job.) This way, you don't have the problem of excess superglue in the crack.
All this is assuming you didn't crack through a tone-hole. Now if you cracked through a tone hole, then you're really up #@$# creek without a paddle. You can tell if you cracked a tone whole by taking off the pad, checking the hole and seeing if the crack goes into the polished surface around the hole or not. In this case, they'll drill out the tone hole, put a plastic insert where the hole was, and glue it back together. This obviously has big risks, but a good professional should be able to handle this without a problem. It's pricey though.
The final note: I don't know what kind of horn you have but if you have something nice (hence your affinity for Loree Royals), you definetely don't want to mess up your oboe with superglue, as you'll never be able to resell it. Nobody will by a horn from a high schooler who's messed his oboe up with superglue.
The bottom line is a crack can really make or break your horn, and it's not worth trying to save $100 and messing up a $6000 horn. Now if you have an old selmer, that might be a different story...
As usual, hope this helps sir. Good luck.
PostNote: I think his name is Carlos Coehlo or something like that. He's highly regarded and known as a very good oboe repairman. I'd also suggest Chudnow, RDG (only John Peterson!), and John Symer in Philadelphia. David Weber also has done a fantastic job on my oboe.
But then again, don't spend $100 bucks fixing up your horn that's only worth $400.
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