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Clarinet : What's you method for applying bore oil ?

5K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  daigle65 
#1 ·
I'm looking for a less messy way.

I've been using an old pad saver swab for many years.
 
#5 ·
If you have a gun cleaning ramrod and some cloth patches that works very well.
 
#7 ·
A piece of doweling or rod and some scraps of cloth would work fine.
 
#8 ·
On oboe, a big feather works well. Clarinet might take a bigger feather. I usually use a flute cleaning rod with a piece of cloth. The idea on oboe is to strip off any loose linty or fluffy parts at the base of the feather. Then dip the very tip of the feather in oil and push it straight through the bore, leaving a trail of oil opposite the keys.. Then rotate the feather to distribute the oil. I have not tried a feather on clarinet, I think I might just stick with the cleaning rod, but a feather works great for oboe.
 
#9 ·
there are many soft brushes normally used for bassoon that you can use on a clarinet too. I have several sizes that are useful ( oboe brushes are also useful on saxophone necks) to put oil through the clarinet.



I have done that with bass and soprano clarinet.

A bit of oil on the soft brush (not too much) can be applied regularly. I also like to add a couple of drops of some real lemon oil , aromatherapy grade, (not what passes for lemon oil) to deodorize the clarinet. Pull-throughs for Bassoon are also my favorite for regular cleaning and maintenance, but I also have the ones used for saxophone necks.



Whether this has any real meaning in preventing cracks or anything else that you want to prevent it with is very doubtful.

Oiling the bore is extremely controversial and although done by many, rigorous tests have not been able to show that this has really any meaningful action.

Immersing clarinets in oil is also contentious and there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that the wood retains the oil.
 
#10 ·
I have a bottle cleaner (15mm dia) which looks like a bristly pad saver. I squeezed the eyelet on the "hand end" and slip my "oil rag" through it. Some drops of oil, some strokes through the bore, voilà. (The bottle cleaner, by virtue of its perfect diameter, serves as bore scrubber when I clean the clarinet and doubles as an oil rag rod)
 
#11 ·
are you not risking to scrub the spirit out the clarinet :), I am kidding but you know the myth involving clarinets losing their " clarinetism" ?

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?78593-old-clarinets-blowing-out
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=89788&t=89788

lots of people make money propagating this idea that one has to either buy a new clarinet every so often or that you need to purchase their expensive services.

http://www.naylors-woodwind-repair.com/Publications/deterioration-of-grenadilla-instruments/Page-2
 
#12 ·
Well, I don't do this every other day. But it's part of my to-do-list when refurbishing an instrument: Cleaning and oiling.
I don't want no stinkin' residue left by former players in restored instruments.

I think the "blown out" myth will crumble as soon as the CITES ban on blackwood kicks in. All of a sudden no more (at the accustomed prices) new wooden instruments on the market, so restoring will become a viable alternative...
 
#14 ·
Thanks for the replies everybody.

I've reapplied some oil to the bores of my clarinets using my old padsaver swab and it was a lot less messy this time because I didn't add any oil to the already oily swab (I keep the swab and bottle of oil in the freezer so they don't go rancid.)
So bandmommy was right, I was using too much.

I agree that the whole 'blown out" clarinet thing is a myth and that the wood probably doesn't absorb that much oil, but whenever I oil the bore I almost always find that the throat tones speak more clearly and that there's less hissing on certain notes. I'm guessing that this is due to the bore itself being smoother.
 
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