Week 17

This week was a work week. I was working on finishing body work and padding on my project flute. I continued to pad and once I finished the body I put it in the pad oven to put a seat in the pads. While the body was in the oven I finished padding the foot joint. The flute went in the pad oven for 15 minutes with the pad clamps in place. Then I took it out of the oven and the clamps remained on for an hour. Once the hour was up I removed the clamps and let it sit for another hour so the seat would have time to relax and then I could check for any leaks that were still present. After the padding was done I had to finish up my tenon fitting. The head joint was back into round but it did not slide in the socket evenly. I also had to expand the lower tenon because the footjoint was loose. Once the body work and padding was done I corked the keys, fixed regulation, created venting and removed lost motion. These were the last steps I had to complete before turning in my project.

Week 16

Flute padding was the focus this week. Flute padding is different than clarinet padding because the majority of pads are not floating on glue. They are placed in the pad cup and are shimmed with paper or mylar shims to make it seal to the tone hole.  Flute pads are made of woven felt, a cardboard back and a skin covering over the top. When padding, install the key to check the pad cup for levelness. If it isn't level to the tone hole flex the cup level to the tone hole first so that you only have to shim for inaccuracies in the pad. Shims are all different thicknesses ranging from 0.001" to 0.010". Shims are used to build up an area of the pad that is not touching the tone hole. To figure out where to put shims I used a feeler gauge of 0.001" thickness to check around the tone hole for drag. Where there was not any drag was a spot I needed to add a shim under the pad. Padding takes time, patience and practice.

Full and partial shims that are used to make the pad level with the tone hole

Week 15

After Thanksgiving we started working on flutes! We started by learning the regulation sequence followed by the venting and lost motion on a flute. There are more regulations on a flute than a clarinet, but they are easier to fix because the keys have regulation (adjustment) screws. Lost motion and venting are regulated by a foot cork touching the body. When working on regulation, lost motion and venting the first step is to establish the venting on the F key by adjusting the foot cork because this key controls venting for the lower stack and half of the upper stack. We also learned about pinned keys. Knock pins should be tapered and are in the B-flat key, D key (depending on the model), E key, F key, and trill keys. Pins should be removed on a clean, oil, and adjustment to make sure there is no rust in the key and to replace the old oil. Once they are removed the keys may be cleaned thoroughly and pins may need to be replaced depending on the situation. I replaced all of the pins on my project flute so that it would be easier for the next technician to work on.

Flute pin remover

Old pin in the D# trill lever

Pin replacement kit

Kit comes with reamers, new steel pins and a drill bit

Replacing the old pin with new steel

Other pinned keys where the pins were replaced

Close up of the D# trill lever. The pin still needs to be ground down

Week 14

This was a short week because of Thanksgiving break. But we did a lathe project to replicate a tuba valve stem. First my bench partner and I took measurements of the piece we were replicating. After that we used the tap and die and drill charts to figure out the correct size tool to use for this project. The stock material for this project was a 0.250 inch piece of brass rod. First I faced and de-burred both ends of the rod. Then I turned down one side of the rod for the male threads. On the last pass of the tool bit for turning I put the relief and shoulder to square off that end. Once it was the right length I used a 10-32 die to make the threads. Then I switched ends and faced the part to the correct length. When it was the correct length I drilled the hole for the inner threads. Then I tapped it with an 8-32 size tap. Once the threads were in I drilled the counterbore with a #18 drill. The counter bore allowed for the threads on the valve cap to fit in the stem because they are tapered near the base of the cap. After the ends were de-burred the piece was finished.

My worksheet with all of my calculations. Also the stem I was
replicating

Turning the end for the male threads

Using the 10-32 die to make the threads

Drilling the hole for the inner threads

Week 13

This was my last week on clarinets. I had to finish my project clarinet and even had time for an extra project that I did not think I would have time for. In order to finish my project clarinet I had to learn how to cork a tenon. To cork a tenon I used a #4 natural cork. I marked the cork according to width of the tenon and trimmed the piece. The strip that I cut I beveled one end so that the seam would be more cohesive. To soften the cork so that it is more pliable I hit it with my delrin hammer. This softened it and made it curve. To install the cork contact cement is used. When installing the cork a cosmetic thing to take into consideration is have the seam at the back of the clarinet by the thumb rest or opposite of the logo. This makes the cork aesthetically appealing. Once the cork is in place it is time to sand it so that the tenons will fit together. After the cork is sanded to the proper fit it is time to seal the cork. To seal it paraffin wax is rubbed on the tenon and then heated up to create a seal. This procedure is done twice. (Make sure when heating the tenon that you do not burn the cork, it is very easy to do) After the paraffin wax is melted the tenon cork is finished.

Old tenon cork

Cleaned tenon and ready for corking

Strip of cork cut for the tenon

Bevel on the end of the cork

Bump created where the cork overlaps

Sanding the cork to the correct size so the tenons will fit together

Sealing the cork with paraffin wax

Week 12

Key corking was the topic of this week. After the clarinet is padded it is time to put cork on the keys at articulation points and foot corks. When corking there are many different materials that can be used. The most common material is natural cork. Other materials that are used are composition cork, Valentino cork, Gummi cork, felt, leather, and teflon. People are experimenting with different materials everyday because they are looking for new material that will uphold the stresses put on it by the instrument. For instance on the low A-flat/E-Flat key the foot cork is usually in contact with a small surface. The small surface puts all of the pressure in one area which wears that cork out faster than the rest of the touch piece. Using a stronger material on this key is recommended so that the cork does not have to be replaced frequently.

The cork is contact cemented on to the key

Under the touchpiece

Rough trimmed cork

Fine trimming and adding the bevel

Finished key cork on the A-flat/E-flat key

Week 11

Padding! A clarinet pad is made of three parts: cardboard, felt and a skin covering. The skin covering can be made of a bladder, intestine or synthetic material. A pad can be installed with shellac or hot glue. NEVER, NEVER use super glue for gluing a pad. In order to pad you heat up the pad cup. When super glue is heated it produces cyanide gas. Before padding I cleaned the pad cups using a utility rag and denatured alcohol. When the pad cup was clean I heated up my glue and put it in the pad cup. Next I heated the pad cup so that the glue was warm. I then placed the pad in the cup. All of these steps were done with the key off of the instrument. I then installed the key on the clarinet to level the pad to the tone hole. Once the pad is floating on the glue I manipulated it to seal on the tone hole. With padding there are different issues that can arise. The pad may not be level (it is warped), tone hole is not level, not enough glue or too much glue. All of these factors determine how long the padding will take. Padding is a skill that I will get better with more practice.

Heating the glue to put in the pad cup

Heating the pad cup with glue in it so that it is ready for the pad

Week 10

This week I learned about key fitting. When working on keys it is important to take out end play and lateral play in the keys. This extra motion in the keys makes the clarinet feel sloppy to a player and can add extra noise. When fitting a key it is important to know if the key you are working on has a hinge rod with a hallow hinge tube or a solid hinge tube with pivot screws. When working with a hinge tube a rod the key is able to be swedged with a swedging pliers or a swedging collet. Swedging the keys thins the metal which stretches it and makes the key longer. This removes the end play. The lateral play, which is the movement between the hinge rod and tube, can be taken out with the swedging tools because it forms the tube to the rod. This takes up the space between the tube and rod and removes the lateral play. There are two main types of pivot screws: point screws and pilot screws. Standard point pivot screws have a pointed end and a head. These are nice screws to take out end and lateral play. In order to take out play I need to make the screw go in further. This is done by removing material from the post with a pivot screw counter sink.  Headless point pivot screws are the easiest to fix end play because the screw can be placed further in the key tube. Pilot screws are screws that have a cylindrical rod after the threads. There is no fix for lateral play but in order to fix end play washers need to be installed to fill the space.

Swedging collet tool. There are different size collets for
different sized hinge tubes

My clarinet screw board showing the different
hinge rods and pivot screws

Dent Roller

I had a question about what type of dent roller I used on trombone bells to remove bell dents.

Dent roller in vice

Placed in the vice with a V block

The ball bearing ring on the roller

Week 9

This week I moved to the Woodwind Lab.  The first thing we had to do was a few house keeping tasks in order to prepare for working on clarinets. I covered my desk rug with muslim so that it would be easy to find pivot screws and other small parts that may land on my bench. I also made a clarinet screw board. This board is used when taking apart a clarinet. It keeps track of hinge rods and pivot screws so that each screw and hinge rod corresponds to the correct key or lever. After making the screw board I took apart my methods clarinet. I started with the upper joint and then moved to the lower joint. Taking apart the clarinet allowed me to learn the names of the keys and levers. I am very excited to learn more about the clarinet.

Wood block and paper that covers the block

Paper Mod Podged to the block

Wood dowel widdled to add a piece of mylar that is 0.001"

Finished feeler used for padding

Screw block with hinge rods and pivot screws from the upper joint

Disassembled upper joint

Organized keys

Week 8

This week was a work week. It was my time to finish up work on my project trumpet before I turned it in on Friday. I spent the beginning of the week finishing dents and alignments so that I would be ready to install the mouth pipe in the middle of the week. I knew that I would have to spot lacquer the trumpet and mouth pipe before I could turn it in. I wanted to have all of the work done before Friday so that the lacquer would have time to dry overnight. I finished lacquering on Thursday so that Friday I could work on porting and water key installation. I also vacuumed out the case and did a minor case repair. After finishing the invoice on the computer my trumpet was ready to turn in. I enjoyed this project immensely! It was a great learning experience. When I first opened the case weeks ago and the trumpet was in pieces I never imagined that I would be able to make this trumpet play. It was a gratifying experience and I cannot wait to work on more horns.

Throat dents that I worked on in the beginning of the week

Fitting the mouth pipe to casing brace

Fitting 'S' braces

Ready for lacquering

Finished project trumpet!

Week 7

The topic this week was all about replacing a mouth pipe. On my project trumpet the mouth pipe was severely damaged and I replaced it with an Allied Universal mouth pipe. The first step was to remove the mouth pipe assembly from my trumpet. Since mine was not attached to start with this was simple. Then I had to take off all of the braces and wipe the excess solder down to tinning. Next, I took apart the mouth pipe assembly. I took of the receiver first and then the upper outer main tuning slide tube. The most exciting part of this process was that my finger hook did not fall off! Once I had it all apart I needed to prep all of the surfaces that were going to be soldered back together. I wiped, scraped and sanded the inside and outside of tubes. This was to remove solder, I also removed the old lacquer so that it did not burn when I soldered the mouth pipe back together. After they were sanded I buffed and degreased so that the solder would flow on the parts. The next step was fitting the new mouth pipe to the old receiver and outer slide tube. In order to make the parts fit I had to flare the one end with a morse #1 taper tool and then insert brass shims to fill the rest of the gap. After everything was fitted and aligned I soldered the mouth pipe assembly together.

The original mouth pipe assembly

Using an old mouth piece to clamp in the vice to pull the
receiver off the mouth pipe

Heating up the outer slide tube

Solder clip on the finger hook so it won't fall off

Mouth pipe assembly apart

Adding shims to fill in the space

Newly assembled mouth pipe