I handed in my clarinet today!!!!  It was a lot of work, but it plays great now!!!!

We started learning about flutes this week.  We started by disassembling and reassembling them.  Yesterday we learned about regulation of the flute.  The flute has five regulations.  We regulated our methods flutes, and then we learned how to get rid of lost motion in the keys.

Today we made a valve stem on the lathe.  We applied all the things we have learned about lathe work thus far into making them.  We had to face the ends, make it a specific length, face part of it to a smaller diameter, and drill, tap, and die threads on the ends. Later we will buff and lacquer them.

We got our clarinet projects today!!  Mine has a chipped tenon, and it looks like some of the hinge rods and pivot screws are corroded shut.  I'll be disassembling and cleaning it tomorrow.  Look for updates on that in my "Project Clarinet" page.

The last couple days we have been learning how to swedge keys and adjust point screws to fit keys (this means getting rid of end and lateral play).  We have also learned how to straighten bent hinge rods and hinge tubes.  The video in this post is me straightening a hinge rod using the bench motor.

Most of my updates for the next week or so will be in the "Project Clarinet" page so keep an eye on that!