This week in the Woodwind Shop, we've been getting down to the bread and butter of clarinets. We have been working on key fitting and padding. We've been installing pads and straightening keys on our practice clarinets, in my case a Yamaha. The keys on a Yamaha are so much stiffer than other clarinets, that it took me two days (on and off) to finally get the F# Ring Key straightened after Lucas hit it with a hammer. We use the handle of our canvas hammers to straighten the hinge rods first, then put the hinge rods into the key and straighten the key. Fun stuff.
This week we received our project clarinets. I got an Armstrong 4001 student line clarinet from Music and Arts. It seems in surprisingly good shape. Most of the keys are fit well and there doesn't appear to be much body damage. My job is to strip it down, chem flush it, and give it a total re-pad.
After dis-assembly, the keys had to be chem flushed. To do that, I had to remove all of the flat springs from the keys on the upper joint. Usually they are held on by a small flat-head screw. Lucky for me, Armstrong uses tiny hex-head bolts. They are not fun. After the keys were chem flushed, I ran the body through our Simple Green detergent and scrubbed it clean. The keys are now ready for fitting.
Back in the realm of tools, my desk started becoming cluttered. So after a quick trip to Menard's, $2.00 in wood and $3.00 in plastic, I started building this little tool rest. The buckets are detachable. Once I drill some holes in the tops of each layer, it should hold all of my screw drivers, pliers and hammers. Not bad for $5.00. To the right, I found this small container in my truck. It works perfectly for my Gummi Kork height gauges. Plus I get a mushroom on my desk.
This week we received our project clarinets. I got an Armstrong 4001 student line clarinet from Music and Arts. It seems in surprisingly good shape. Most of the keys are fit well and there doesn't appear to be much body damage. My job is to strip it down, chem flush it, and give it a total re-pad.
After dis-assembly, the keys had to be chem flushed. To do that, I had to remove all of the flat springs from the keys on the upper joint. Usually they are held on by a small flat-head screw. Lucky for me, Armstrong uses tiny hex-head bolts. They are not fun. After the keys were chem flushed, I ran the body through our Simple Green detergent and scrubbed it clean. The keys are now ready for fitting.
Back in the realm of tools, my desk started becoming cluttered. So after a quick trip to Menard's, $2.00 in wood and $3.00 in plastic, I started building this little tool rest. The buckets are detachable. Once I drill some holes in the tops of each layer, it should hold all of my screw drivers, pliers and hammers. Not bad for $5.00. To the right, I found this small container in my truck. It works perfectly for my Gummi Kork height gauges. Plus I get a mushroom on my desk.
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