Tech/maintenance Sticky octave pip

[Stephen Howard]

I’ve had some luck with adding felt to the back of cork pads. They seem to float some for sealing and no bouncing of G occurs.

That's an interesting idea. Will give that a go.

Whenever I cut cork discs I always spin the punch in the lathe. Gives the disk a nice, crisp side. For the octave pad punches I have a hollow reduced diameter shank on them so that I can use a hand drill rather than firing up the lathe for a one-off pad.
I also have a sort of shallow, slightly undersized cup that holds a cork pad and leaves about three quarters of the cork exposed. Spin this in a chuck and you can sand a nice even bevel on the pad. Some folks say it makes a tonal difference (less breathy?) but I just think it looks nice and neat.

 

[thomsax]

There used to be a bloke on SOTW that always compared saxes to watches when talking about tolerances. He stopped (mostly) when I said "...saxes aren't watches"
I can now add "Saxes aren't humans" to that list.

I don't stick a pipe cleaner into the octave pipe because it can too fluffy and soft. You need to remove the "plaque" from octave pipe otherwise you can have "octave pipe infarct".

 

[PigSquealer]

That's an interesting idea. Will give that a go.

Whenever I cut cork discs I always spin the punch in the lathe. Gives the disk a nice, crisp side. For the octave pad punches I have a hollow reduced diameter shank on them so that I can use a hand drill rather than firing up the lathe for a one-off pad.
I also have a sort of shallow, slightly undersized cup that holds a cork pad and leaves about three quarters of the cork exposed. Spin this in a chuck and you can sand a nice even bevel on the pad. Some folks say it makes a tonal difference (less breathy?) but I just think it looks nice and neat.

Thanks for the technique tips. It gets really interesting cutting a duplex material. I cut oversized and grind to size. Double sided carpet tape to cork on a Dremel sanding disc. Spin against bench grinder wheel turning in sync or 150 sandpaper hand held. Have to be gentle and not spit the bit across the barn.

Notice only the one on right side is slightly finished. The others are crudely done.

I made a hollow bit from mild steel. Should have sharpened from exterior, ouch !
Cut with spinning bit in drill press. Wood block on table as backer. The larger holes done with sharpened tubing. I’ve actually done two clarinets with these pads. Two years and still working fine.

 

[stitch]

I also have a sort of shallow, slightly undersized cup that holds a cork pad and leaves about three quarters of the cork exposed. Spin this in a chuck and you can sand a nice even bevel on the pad.

You chaps have some very hi-tech solutions. I'd just shellac the cork to a broad-headed nail, put that in the dremel then use a sanding stick to size, smooth and bevel. Not as elegant, but got the job done!

 

[PigSquealer]

You chaps have some very hi-tech solutions. I'd just shellac the cork to a broad-headed nail, put that in the dremel then use a sanding stick to size, smooth and bevel. Not as elegant, but got the job done!

That’s way too simple and easy ! I walk the Dug for hours overthinking this kind of stuff!! Pure dog abuse 🤪
Dug spends hours recovering 😢

 

[Woodpad]

You chaps have some very hi-tech solutions. I'd just shellac the cork to a broad-headed nail, put that in the dremel then use a sanding stick to size, smooth and bevel. Not as elegant, but got the job done!

I just use a hand file, slightly larger than a nail file.

 

[0483]

A big thankyou to all who contributed to this thread, your ideas helped me to make a much neater job than the initial attempt, as they say down here "proper job".

 

[Grumps]

I just love it here when a fairly simple concern gets all techy. Keep it coming guys!

 

[Stephen Howard]

You chaps have some very hi-tech solutions. I'd just shellac the cork to a broad-headed nail, put that in the dremel then use a sanding stick to size, smooth and bevel. Not as elegant, but got the job done!

Yeah, we do - but then we might be doing the same job many times a week....so a little time invested in tooling pays off when we can knock out dozen or so precise and neatly-cut discs in the time it takes to faff around with an old nail and some shellac.

 

[PigSquealer]

Yeah, we do - but then we might be doing the same job many times a week....so a little time invested in tooling pays off when we can knock out dozen or so precise and neatly-cut discs in the time it takes to faff around with an old nail and some shellac.

I agree 1000%.
A left handed punch made in England took me a few goes to perfect. Straight DIY punch didn’t like me that day.
Ended up with two spares from one process. All at less time and expense to order, wait for post to arrive, then pay the bank card invoice.