[milandro]

Now we are talking.

That is exactly what I meant when starting this thread and after three long pages we have got exactly where I thought from the start that we should be. Someone who can see the merit for both function and form in binding the portion of the neck which is normally covered with cork.

Again nothing wrong with cork, this is just a bit of lateral thinking and could be a much nicer looking part of our saxophones. Mind you, Poet, if you let the Old Man take care of things you might wait a VERY long time indeed because my cork on the Super 20 has been replaced about 4 years ago and doesn’t show any sign of needing replacement!

It has been judiciously greased ( I have a number of different ones) over time and should it compress too much I occasionally immerse it in some hot water and it pops back into shape , the one on the soprano is maybe one year older and after some initial sanding down it has reached the same conditions of my tenor.

If anyone would care to show us the results of their binding technique I would be very interested to see it.

 

[milandro]

another old horn just surfaced on SOTW. It is an Oskar Adler bound with thread instead of using cork. I am sure there are many more out there among pre '30 European horns.

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

Ugh!

Like most bindings, it looks... UGLY! What would my customers say if I did that!

 

[milandro]

well, we have yet to see a good one made on a modern saxophone. This is a 100 years old sax in disrepair.

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

I think a good one could be reminiscent of the binding on a bassoon bocal - http://www.dynamicreeds.com/bassoon_reed_by_dynamic_reeds.jpg - or a ball fo string: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images...28/1298918232037/Ball-of-thick-string-007.jpg

In order to get the thickness, and hold itself together, while having spaces to fill with parafin wax or equivalent.

 

[milandro]

going back to this old thread, I have seen , albeit occasionally, the odd saxophonist doing this, mostly on account of some vibrationalist belief.

However some folks may be curious on how to tie the thread, this is by the way rather common within the recorder fraternity

here you read how they do it on a recorder joint, which is not unlike how one would do this on a saxophone

http://www.flute-a-bec.com/jointsgb.html

 

[Hassles]

I have acquired a few saxes with the neck wrapped with a thin Fibrous twine. It always looks odd, strange and if not bound well can look decidedly cheap and ugly. Hemp is the fibre which for years and years was used to make fishing nets and hemp today makes the best ropes. Its tough and long lasting. I have shirts made with hemp fibre (sensational for summer). This method is a very feasible, functional alternative to using cork.

 

[milandro]

the only drawback is the need for a certain amount of playing until the hemp ( By the way the article lien just above mentions other fibers too) gets wet with condense and therefore actually seals.

this used to be the traditional way many older woodwinds were provided of a seal between joints , recorders, clarinets, bassoons still use it, but I regularly see the odd old instrument with this fitting system.

 

[frozen fingers]

Hemp is great on bagpipes, never thought to use it on my sax. This was discussed in the thread (Har har), but I think the best to use is actual unwaxed hemp string (single spun cannibas fibre), but that can be surprisingly hard to find... (As you know, cannabis string is a gateway string to harder strings...) so most of the string that's sold through bagpipe supply shops labelled "hemp" is actually waxed/unwaxed linen, and it does not resist rot like hemp will. This is usually dyed yellow or red. The linen is ok, but hemp itself is really nice to work with and can provide an airtight seal - and dare I say, does not need to be wet in order to seal properly. On my bagpipes, I'll start with a thicker waxed hemp (Using a cobblers wax so it "sticks" to the wood and doesn't just rotate while twisting the drones on) to fill most of the space, then dial it in with thinner unwaxed hemp. The wood in the bagpipes is finely grooved to help that first layer of waxed thread "grab" and hold. As wood naturally swells and shrinks, I'd usually carry a small spool to add some hemp if necessary to make the seal tight, or sometimes remove a bit if the wood swelled after playing. Of course, in pipes that are powered by bellows, this is less of a problem. I hardly touch the pipes now. If my cork was compressed, I wouldn't hesitate to use some hemp to seal it up.

 

[milandro]

this was posted by @Xanadoy

typical use of the cotton or hemp thread as mentioned in this thread