Thanks for the responses! So cork grease is actually good to use in the tenon? It won't gunk it up and cause any long term problems?
There has been some misinformation on this forum over the past couple of years about cork grease and using it or not using it.
Here are the primary considerations (which are only necessary if your sleeve & receiver are very closely fitted, and are advisable if they are):
- if you're poor with upkeep, and hate to swab your horn out, etc., don't get it fitted very closely. You are like a child, and cannot be trusted with anything requiring care and mindfulness. I wouldn't fit a neck closely for a child, or for any one who isn't diligent about upkeep. There are kids that can care for horns well, just not many. Even among adults, many -- especially pro's who would benefit the most from fine fitting -- can't be trusted with diligent upkeep. Any tech can confirm to you the gulfs that separate players that care for their horns very well and those that care for them poorly. What I'm saying here is only for players that don't mind caring for their horns regularly and diligently.
OK. That said, and continuing with it as a list, let's assume I've just fitted your neck for you, with the requisite prior warnings and disclaimers. Here is exactly what I'd communicate next:
1) to insert or remove the neck, from now on, never just shove it in or pull it out. You will have to gently rotate your neck in one direction -- I don't care which one, just so that you preferably always rotate it that direction when inserting or removing, when possible -- and NEVER, NEVER EVER force it past any point of resistance. IF you do, you get into the hazardous area Saxoclese warned about above, where you will force the neck sleeve out of round, and that is VERY UNDESIRABLE, possibly catastrophic as far as that neck sleeve's future. Instead, if you encounter resistance, completely remove the neck, then,
2) wipe out and clean the socket with a clean cloth or paper towels. If you wish, you can follow with Naptha, soap and water, a rag with Simple Green on it, whatever you like that will not harm the finish, and then dry. You will not need, ever, to use any solvents if you don't drink and eat and then play and deposit nutrients for bacteria to grow in there. You could also, equally, run your chapstick-style cork grease over a clean paper towel, and do the same. Repeat this process on your neck sleeve, i.e. clean both with a paper towel. Again, if you're not a pigpen (there are a lot of pigpens), all you will ever need to do is wipe with a clean, dry, paper towel, then
3) apply a smear of cork grease to your (clean) finger and rub it over the sleeve. Lubricate the entire sleeve this way.
4) insert as (your new) normally: rotate one direction til you can't any more, then back and forth, and tighten the neck screw. If your tenon isn't bulged (if it's healthy) and your sleeve is snug, it will likely take you less than a single 180 degree turn to get your neck stationary. The more perfect the sleeve is, the less damage it has taken over time, and the less damage the tenon has taken over time, and the better it was fitted, the less you will need to turn the neck screw.
A lot of this is just going to cause me headaches for sharing.
You all are aware of the crucialness of the tenon in the first place because I obsessed over it for months with a client 18 years ago, and shared what I discovered here. I'm not sharing the rest of what I've learned since because I AM STILL BITTER ABOUT getting **** off people for sharing new knowledge that complicates what they don't know they originally got from me in the first place.
(I'm kidding, but not lying.)
Those are the upkeep requirements, as far as using or not using cork grease. As far as details about fitting tenons that I leave unshared, if you are a talented tech you can kind of get to where I've gotten to via reverse engineering off the details I've given here.
