Band Instrument Repair: Tools for Success: Project Clarinet

My project clarinet was a Selmer Bundy, Resonite model. First I inspected the clarinet and wrote down any damage that I would need to fix.

Project clarinet

Inspection
Along with the inspection I recorded the pad protrusion and cork thickness. This clarinet was missing corks and some of the pads were chewed up so I wrote down what it was and also what I wanted to put in when I was finished. By doing this before time it allowed me to save time when I was putting the clarinet back together.

No tenon cork

Broken tenon cork

Chipped tenon

Needs a chemical flush!

Scale built up on the keys

Dirty body

Dirty tone holes

Scale build up on the keys

After the inspection I took the clarinet apart to do the pre-clean and get it ready for the chemical flush.

The keys ready for the chemical room

Pre-cleaning the body and tone holes with a cotton swab

After the chemical flush the body and keys were much cleaner and rid of scale and lime build up.

Clean tone holes and body!

No more flakes of dirty and grime

Clean keys. There is still some scale staining. But much cleaner than before

Once the clarinet was flushed and clean I started to fit the keys. Fitting keys means taking out any lateral or end play. End play is when there is space between the key and the posts. Lateral play is when there is space between the key and the hinge rod or pivot screw. Play in the keys makes for a sloppy mechanism and can effect how it feels to the player.

These are the swedging collets that I use to swedge the keys to thin the
hinge tube metal, which makes the key longer and takes out end play

As I was key fitting I found a post that was loose. If I tightened it
all the way it made the hinge rod go in at an angle.

To fix this I removed the post from the body

And wrapped unwaxed dental floss around the post that threads into the body.
This filled the space and allowed the post to tighten and make the rod go straight.

On the side B-flat/E-flat key my clarinet had a key that was too long.
The key in front is what it had. The last person bent the key so that it
would line up with the other side touchpieces. This looked out of place
so I replaced it with a different key from the parts bin.

Buffing, Padding, and Corking

After all the keys fit I buffed them. They are so shiny!

In order to pad I picked pads that fit the individual pad cup and would allow for the correct pad protrusion. Then I poked them on the side so that when the cup was heated the heat would be able to escape and not get trapped under the skin of the pad.

Heating up the glue to put in the pad cup

Warming up the pad cup with glue in it

Once the keys were padded it was time to cork them.
This is the A-flat/E-flat key with a piece of oversized cork
contact cemented to it

Then I rough trim the cork to the touchpiece

Final cork cut with a bevel. Now I can sand it to reach the
proper venting for that key

Tenon Corks
After key fitting, padding and corking is done I finished by putting on the tenon corks. I cut the cork in a strip that fit the tenon and then contact cemented it to the tenon. Next, I sanded the cork so that it would fit the tenon socket. Once the parts fit I sealed the cork with paraffin wax.