Help! My New Clarinet’s Barrel Won’t Go On All the Way!

Written By Logan Lambert

Is your new clarinet’s tenon getting stuck every time you put the instrument together? Fret not! While it’s highly inconvenient, it’s otherwise not a big deal at all. It’s the kind of thing I’m happy to address myself ASAP, but if you can’t get in to a workshop and need it resolved quickly, you can just take care of it yourself. All you need is some thin strips of sand paper and a few minutes of patience…

Supplies:

  • 400-800 grit sandpaper

  • razor blade, exacto, scissors… something to cut the sand paper into thin strips

  • good quality cork grease

Terminology:

  • Tenon shoulder - the wood edge above and below the tenon cork, usually about 4 mm wide or so; this is what tends to swell and make the tenon tight

  • Tenon socket - the receiver for the tenon, whatever it’s going into; there are 2 sockets on a barrel (top and bottom), none on the top joint, one on the bottom joint, and one on the bell.

1. Cut sand paper into thin strips, approximately the same width as the wood shoulder on your tenon (a couple of millimeters).

2. Line the end of the sandpaper strip up with the tenon shoulder, holding it in place lightly with your thumb

3. Pull the sandpaper across the tenon shoulder in a straight line. This will leave a light layer of wood dust, which is good! Don’t wipe it off.

4. Then move your thumb over and repeat this around the circumference of the tenon shoulder. You only need to pull the sandpaper once per spot, so that you create an even sanding all around.

5. Once you’ve taken one pass around the entire circumference and have an even layer of sanding around the tenon shoulder, put the barrel (or bell or whatever tenon you’re fitting!) on and twist it a bit. This will make shiny marks on the tenon shoulder to show you where the tenon is tight and where you should concentrate your sanding.

6. Repeat steps 2-5, checking with the barrel (or bell or whatever tenon socket you’re fitting your tenon to) after every sanding until you get a good fit!

7. Put on cork grease and do your final fit check! If decide you need to sand more, wipe off the cork grease before continuing sanding. Otherwise, you’re all done!

If you have any questions…

please don’t hesitate to contact me! You can email logan@rdgwoodwinds.com or call/text at 323.703.5892, and I’ll be happy to answer any questions or alleviate any concerns you might have about the process. Best of luck!

Logan Lambert