With saxophones done, we move onto oboes in the woodwind lab. We begin as always by making a screw board for disassembly, and tear it apart. We went through and began to examine all of the mechanisms that are unique to the oboe. The wonderful thing about woodwinds is that once you begin to understand the mechanics of one, they all begin make sense. All of the basic systems are the same or similar and we deal with them in the same way.
We also began corking oboes this week. Oboes are one of the few instruments with cork pads. Unlike bladder pads, cork does not bend around distortions and leaks in the tone-holes. We check with a feeler gauge that is 0.0005" thick and adjust to tolerances within that. So to ensure we have a good seal, we must first prep the tone-holes so they are perfectly level. We then bevel and face the pad to seal properly in the key. If the pad protrusion is correct, the key seals pretty easily.
We revisited our clarinet tenon sleeve this week. To finish this off, we first chucked our first tenon in the lathe as if it was a real clarinet, leaving the cork on and all of the posts. We then faced off what would be the damaged tenon and sized it to receive a sleeve. To make the sleeve, we drilled out a piece of 1" ABS with a 3/4" drill. After fine tuning the inside to accept the tenon, we turned the outside down to size and cut a cork groove. Once we cut it off, it was ready to be glued on. We did not glue these particular ones on, but if we did we would then face off the excess sleeve in a lathe and create a pretty good tenon replica.
We began experimenting with crack pinning this week. Though we did not have a bunch of cracked tenons, we put a big scratch in some junky clarinet bodies and pretended. To begin, we drilled holes in the body underneath the crack at varying angles. The hole must not go into the bore of the instrument or pop out of the body on the other side. Once the holes are drilled, we burn heat threaded rod and burn thread it into the body, snapping it off at a break point once we are at depth. We then grind the excess rod off with a grinding wheel.
After this, the crack is pinned and should not open again. This does not close the crack, it only holds a crack that you have already closed. Now comes the artsy part. Using super glue and grenadilla dust, we fill the holes and cracks in the body and file it flush. Using a varying degree of files, sand paper, and buffing compounds, we can blend these patches in so that they are invisible to the untrained eye. I will revisit this project next week as I continue to blend in the patches.
Finally, we got some bassoons to take home over the weekend. This is the last instrument we will discuss in class as next week is our last. We have already made screw-boards for them, so this weekend is all about tearing them down and putting them back together, checking out the regulation and mechanics along the way.
We also began corking oboes this week. Oboes are one of the few instruments with cork pads. Unlike bladder pads, cork does not bend around distortions and leaks in the tone-holes. We check with a feeler gauge that is 0.0005" thick and adjust to tolerances within that. So to ensure we have a good seal, we must first prep the tone-holes so they are perfectly level. We then bevel and face the pad to seal properly in the key. If the pad protrusion is correct, the key seals pretty easily.
We revisited our clarinet tenon sleeve this week. To finish this off, we first chucked our first tenon in the lathe as if it was a real clarinet, leaving the cork on and all of the posts. We then faced off what would be the damaged tenon and sized it to receive a sleeve. To make the sleeve, we drilled out a piece of 1" ABS with a 3/4" drill. After fine tuning the inside to accept the tenon, we turned the outside down to size and cut a cork groove. Once we cut it off, it was ready to be glued on. We did not glue these particular ones on, but if we did we would then face off the excess sleeve in a lathe and create a pretty good tenon replica.
After this, the crack is pinned and should not open again. This does not close the crack, it only holds a crack that you have already closed. Now comes the artsy part. Using super glue and grenadilla dust, we fill the holes and cracks in the body and file it flush. Using a varying degree of files, sand paper, and buffing compounds, we can blend these patches in so that they are invisible to the untrained eye. I will revisit this project next week as I continue to blend in the patches.
Finally, we got some bassoons to take home over the weekend. This is the last instrument we will discuss in class as next week is our last. We have already made screw-boards for them, so this weekend is all about tearing them down and putting them back together, checking out the regulation and mechanics along the way.
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