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Re: adjustment screw issues

Author: Chris P
Date: 2007-07-19 11:12

The small screwdrivers supplied with oboes are only intended for minor adjustments that the player does themselves (top fingerplate, 3rd 8ve and top C# adjustment) and anything more serious demands a better screwdriver.

I grind, harden and temper the tips of my screwdrivers so they fit the purpose they're intended for - the screwdriver I use for the larger steels (2.4mm) and fitting adjusting screws has a hollow ground blade so it doesn't splay the heads. I have a much beefier screwdriver for fitting wood screws and a very sharp tipped screwdriver for fitting the small screws (flat spring screws and the 12BA mechanism pinning screws) which I also use for the smaller diameter rod screws (2mm and the 1.9mm screws on Marigaux).

Headless adjusting screws have to be a tight fit in the pip, and these aren't seen all that much on oboes. But as they're headless the thread has to be a considerably tight fit to prevent them loosening off, and you'll see with cheap flutes they're either too tight or too loose. Some flute makers put a saw cut through the part where the internal thread is so it can be squeezed to make a tight fit.

Also headless point screws - these usually have a nylon lock either set into a milled out slot the entire length of the thread (eg. Yamaha) or a hole drilled through the thread and a piece of nylon fitted into it so it pokes out at both sides (eg. Leblanc).

But a well fitted screw that has a head is really the best solution as the pressure on the head will keep the screw in place and is easy to adjust if needed, as well as well fitted headed point screws that have the heads tight in the pillars keeping the tension on the threads.

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

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