Buffet English Horn Day 1 - 2/13/14

As an oboist, I get occasional calls to play in musical pits, and the books often call for english horn. In the past when I've played those engagements I've always borrowed an english horn, but it's about time I have my own. So this post is about a personal project instead of a customer repair. It's a Buffet english horn that needs an overhaul and I intend to play in a show in exactly 3 weeks. Every day over the next 21 days, I'll be posting about the steps involved in this type of comprehensive repair, and chronicle its transition back to a fully functional instrument.

Aside from needing all new pads and corks, a lot of key fitting, and a good cleaning, the instrument appears to be in fair condition. The wood is free of cracks and has good tight grain, and the keywork hasn't sustained any serious damage. The plating is missing in the spots you'd expect, on touchpieces and the tops of keys, but even then it's probably over 95% intact. There is a lot of work to be done facing the tone holes to remove chips and defect from grain, but that's to be expected on an older instrument that's been sitting unused for a long time, as this one has.

There are a few problem spots. One post on the lower joint has had its face filed back, to the point that it will need to be replaced. The outer ring on the D key is split and slightly out of round, so the split will need to be filled and the key rerounded. Then there's this:

The Eb/B lever on the lower joint is bent, and it looks like the impact that bent it also knocked the lower post out of alignment. The threaded hole in the above picture is where that post was installed, and when the post moved it split the wood on the surface. The fortunate this is that the crack doesn't extend into the bore. Hopefully it will all fit back together nicely and make for an invisible repair. Here's another picture, this time with the post inserted. You can see that it's slanted slightly toward the left of the picture.

Day one involved taking a lot of notes, snapping a lot of pictures, and making some drawings for reference. Then it was on to disassembly. Everything came apart with very little resistance. I removed all the keys and springs, then removed all the regulation and adjustment screws from the keys. The silver plated keys and the steel screws can't be subjected to the same cleaning chemicals, so it's necessary to remove every single screw. By the same token, the steel springs on the body shouldn't be subjected to too much moisture, and since I'll be cleaning the body it was necessary to remove them. Plus it's easier to work on the body when it's not covered in tiny little needle springs.

Here are the keys after disassembly, and with the pads removed. They're pretty tarnished, but should clean up nicely. Aside from a few bent parts and one stripped shaft lock screw (for which I think I can make a replacement), things look good.

And here's the body after disassembly. Oof. I need to play this thing in three weeks.

Here goes!