REPLACING SAXOPHONE NECK CORKS

hello and welcome back to Jay L Smith the wind I'm Jeff Smith and we're here in the workshop today to show you how to replace a saxophone neck cork using a self-adhesive valentino synthetic neck cork let's go to the bench the first step is to remove the old cork completely and to clean the surface of the neck underneath there are several methods for doing this but I prefer using a heat source to soften the glue and release the bond of the cork another way to remove the cork is to just scrape it off this method works too but it takes longer and I'd only do it this way if I didn't have a heat source in a professional shop you'll have a torch that you could use but you could also use a hot-air gun like this mini heat gun that we offer for sale online use either one to heat the cork area from the inside of the neck pipe like this judgment is always called for when using heat on an instrument overheating can damage lacquered finishes so use only as much heat as necessary to loosen the cork heat will soften most glues and you could usually pull the old cork off without much trouble you might come across some adhesive that don't loosen up with heat but most often the cork itself will bubble up letting you scrape it off more easily while the neck is still hot and the glue is soft use a cloth to wipe off as much adhesive as possible wipe from the south to the north so you don't wipe adhesive on to the lacquered area let the neck cool at this point once it's cooled I remove any remaining traces of adhesive and cork using valentino adhesive remover you could also do this with a scraper and sandpaper strips we always use the fix kit scraper it's designed specifically for scraping rounded surfaces if you are using abrasives or a scraper be sure to protect the lacquer by taping off the area past the cord like this I recommend using blue painters tape you'll lose the same tape later for protecting the lacquer when painting cement on regardless of the method you choose it's important to have a clean grease free surface on which to apply the cork there are two ways to apply the valentino self-adhesive corks in an emergency the court can be applied to a clean surface using only the self adhesive or for a more permanent and professional repair you can strengthen the bond of the self adhesive with a coat of contact cement on the neck I use professional grade barge cement which you can also get on our website I've used it for years in its excellent in either case do a few test fittings of the Cork's alignment without removing peel off backing from the cork since we're wrapping the cork around a tube that's tapered it's a little tricky until you get some experience with it where we position the first edge of the cork sets the alignment for the entire cork it's the nature of these adhesives that the cork it cannot be moved later so it's important to get the edge set properly in order to get a professional looking result do as many dry runs as you need to feel confident that you have it aligned when the cork is wrapped well the south end will form a straight line make mental note of the orientation of the start that yields this result I always start my corks on the underside of the neck I do this so that the musician doesn't see the scene when the neck is resting in the case it's a little professional touch if you've chosen to use contact cement paint the cement from the tape to the end of the tube with a thin even coat to achieve a nice coat it's important that the cement have the viscosity of a very thick oil but no thicker thin it has needed saturate the brush only as much as needed to paint a thin even coat don't over paint or apply a second coat a second coat will remove the first and it'll make a mess pull the tape off the neck pipe and set the neck aside to dry for about five minutes when it's ready pull the protective paper off the back of the cork and press the cork into position like this begin to wrap the cork short ways and if you're confident of the alignment return to the starting line and burnish it down with a piece of polished metal this secures the area and I continue to wrap the cork if I'm not happy with the alignment I'll stop and remove the cork then I'll remove the adhesive with adhesive remover and start back at the step of applying the tape as I follow through wrapping the cork I get to the area where the ends will meet and form the joint I stopped short of the joint by about a quarter inch holding the loose end of the cork down I use a sharp new razor to trim the excess cork back to the end of the neck I use the end of the pipe as a guide for my razor viewing the neck from the end of the tube use the razor to mark the overlap where the two ends will join now tip the neck so that you could see the other end of the joint and make a similar mark now carefully cut a straight line between the two marks peel away the extra and press the loose end of the cork into place pushing it towards the other burnished this edge down then burnished the entire cork if there is a lip of cork sticking up shave it with a razor like this to further dress the cork sand it with 220 grit sandpaper to blend the scene and reduce the thickness to fit the mouthpiece finish the cork with 320 grit to give a truly fine appearance put a small radius on the mouthpiece end of the cork so that the mouthpiece can get started easily without tugging or tearing the cork if your neck has a reinforcing ring or so-called tone ring don't apply cement over the ring and don't burnish the cork in the area of the ring use a razor to trim the cork on the south side of the ring using the ring to guide your blade pull off the excess cork burnish and continue finally you can use a hot-air gun to soften the cork and get a final fit with the mouthpiece heat the cork and gently press the mouthpiece to its plain position later if needed you can use heat again to expand the cork to fit a larger mouthpiece the heat activated memory is another one of the great advantages of the valentino synthetic cork this style of joint is called a butt joint and I find it superior to a lap joint it takes a skilled hand to make a joint perfect but it has the best bond is easier to keep round in sand and certainly looks more elegant so there you have it a freshly recorte saxophone neck that will perform reliably for years I hope you've seen just how easy it is to do this type of repair using valentino synthetic cork and following these basic instructions valentino self-adhesive synthetic neck corks are available from our online store for more information about this and other unique products visit us at JL Smith cocom and be sure to check out our Facebook page and Twitter feeds for regular updates on new products special offers and all the latest instrument repair tips until next time this is Jeff Smith sane thanks for watching and we'll see you back here soon you you

Channel: jlsmithco

Views: 113,275

Rating: 4.7879519 out of 5

Keywords: Saxophone, Sax, NAPBIRT, Saxophones, Saxophone Neck Cork Repair, Saxophone Repair, Instrument repair, J.L. Smith, Saxophone Service, Adjusting Sax Neck Cork, Fixing Saxophones, Woodwind Repair, Replacing Saxophone Neck Corks, Band Instrument Repair

Id: Iw-nFRl3v4Q

Length: 8min 18sec (498 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 31 2012