Oil - of the "olive" variety

Hoovorff · Post by **Hoovorff** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 3:25 pm

So, can anyone offer some information on the refrigerated oil question I posted above? Does it need to be brought up to room temperature before applying to a wooden flute?

Thanks, Jeanie

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 3:34 pm

Whoops, sorry about that.

I quit refridgerating my almond oil some time ago, because I did have concerns about putting cold oil onto a flute.

That said, I have no particular evidence that the practice is harmful.

Loren

flutefry · Post by **flutefry** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 4:03 pm

I always warm my oil to room temp after taking it out of the fridge, just because it is less viscous, and thus spreads better. I am not worried about the temp difference between a tiny mass of oil and a large mass of flute.

Hugh

Hoovorff · Post by **Hoovorff** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 7:03 am

Thanks much, Loren and Hugh. I was just curious about what others thought about cold oil.

Jeanie

chas · Post by **chas** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 7:05 am

flutefry wrote:I always warm my oil to room temp after taking it out of the fridge, just because it is less viscous, and thus spreads better.

Ditto. I usually take it out a couple of hours before oiling. Half the time I forget to put it back in the fridge, too, so I'm probably not the best source of information.

johnkerr · Post by **johnkerr** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:02 pm

I use flaxseed oil (aka linseed oil) straight from the fridge on my flutes, with no ill effects after having done so for several years now. I suspect that the small amount of oil I use on the flute warms pretty quickly on contact with the rag or other applicator before the wood gets exposed to it. Now if you're refrigerating your rag as well as the oil, you might have problems.

Why flaxseed oil, you ask? Because at one time Patrick Olwell was recommending it and I bought a small bottle of it (like maybe a cup or so of oil in the bottle). After several years, I've barely made a dent in it. OTOH, I go through a gallon jug of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil for you non-foodies out there) from Costco in my kitchen about every two months. (Pesto, homemade croutons, marinades, etc, etc...) So whenever the flaxseed oil runs out I should be able to switch over to olive oil without missing a beat.

ISU Trout Bum · Post by **ISU Trout Bum** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:05 pm

Thanks for all the tips everyone - I live in the midwest, so I'm not too worried about humidity problems in the summer, but winter will be a different story. I'll give the EVOO a go, and see how things work out!

Terry McGee · Post by **Terry McGee** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 5:05 pm

I can't resist asking why we all are so keen to use various salad oils rather than the inorganic oils sold expressly as bore oils by the major clarinet manufacturers. We can reasonably assume that some sort of research lead the clarinet makers to pin their hopes on light mineral oils (unfortunately I can't get any response to direct questioning). These people make tens of thousands of clarinets per year and have been doing so for 150 years, so presumably they have amassed some experience in what works and what doesn't. Yet we collectively screw up our nose and mutter things like unnatural. We conveniently overlook the fact that it is organic in origin and has simply been cooked bigtime.

Interestingly, we seem to take the opposing view with that other well-known product of polimerisation, Delrin. We ignore its petro-chemical origin, and the issue of what to do with the swarf left over after manufacture, and even exault that (renewable) trees have been saved by using it (fortunate, because something is going to have to deal with the greenhouse gases released when the stuff is made!).

Heh heh, we're a funny lot.

Lucky we're lovable!

Terry

chas · Post by **chas** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 6:18 pm

ISU Trout Bum wrote:Thanks for all the tips everyone - I live in the midwest, so I'm not too worried about humidity problems in the summer, but winter will be a different story. I'll give the EVOO a go, and see how things work out!

Note that extra light was mentioned as a bore oil, extra virgin only as a cooking oil.

Terry, one reason I don't use mineral oils is that I can't stand the smell. Yes, I suppose I could use mineral oil or something. The other reason is that, other than one who has mentioned linseed oil, all the makers I've bought from have recommended almond or the olive/almond mixture that I use.

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:46 am

chas wrote:
ISU Trout Bum wrote:Thanks for all the tips everyone - I live in the midwest, so I'm not too worried about humidity problems in the summer, but winter will be a different story. I'll give the EVOO a go, and see how things work out!
Note that extra light was mentioned as a bore oil, extra virgin only as a cooking oil.

Terry, one reason I don't use mineral oils is that I can't stand the smell. Yes, I suppose I could use mineral oil or something. The other reason is that, other than one who has mentioned linseed oil, all the makers I've bought from have recommended almond or the olive/almond mixture that I use.

...and at the same time, there are some others who state that oiling is no necessary. I'll never get to understand...

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 6:34 am

Terry McGee wrote:I can't resist asking why we all are so keen to use various salad oils rather than the inorganic oils sold expressly as bore oils by the major clarinet manufacturers.

For me, I use extra-virgin olive oil, almond oil, and vitamin E caplets because it seems to do the job and I already have those ingredients in my over-stocked kitchen. To use mineral oil or bore oil would require me buying another oil that I only use for one purpose...which seems silly when the oil I'm using seems to do the trick

chas · Post by **chas** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 7:37 am

Sylvester wrote: ...and at the same time, there are some others who state that oiling is no necessary. I'll never get to understand...

I encountered that recently. Peter Noy suggests using almond oil. But evidently the oil reacts with the adhesive that he uses to attach the slide to the head. So he also says if you're not careful enough to remove the cork and swab only up to a little before the slide, don't oil the head at all. That seems to indicate to me that he doesn't consider oiling to be necessary.

Jon C. · Post by **Jon C.** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:50 am

Terry McGee wrote:I can't resist asking why we all are so keen to use various salad oils rather than the inorganic oils sold expressly as bore oils by the major clarinet manufacturers. We can reasonably assume that some sort of research lead the clarinet makers to pin their hopes on light mineral oils (unfortunately I can't get any response to direct questioning). These people make tens of thousands of clarinets per year and have been doing so for 150 years, so presumably they have amassed some experience in what works and what doesn't. Yet we collectively screw up our nose and mutter things like unnatural. We conveniently overlook the fact that it is organic in origin and has simply been cooked bigtime.

I agree with Terry, I use Roche'-Thomas Premium Bore oil, we don't have to "re-invent the wheel". With the drying oils, you can oil a lot less then with the Almond or salad bowl oils. And when there are keys involved, you can ruin the leather pads by slogging all that oil around! Not to mention the build up of the stuff, and then there is the chance of having it go rancid in the flute bore...

johnkerr · Post by **johnkerr** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 10:31 am

When oiling a keyed flute, it's always a good idea to put a bit of paper towel, newspaper or saran wrap underneath the keypads before swabbing out the bore of the flute with oil, so as to protect the keypads from getting oil on them. This is true no matter what kind of oil you're using.

Although to be truthful about it, as a kid when I played the clarinet (lots more keys and keypads than a 6-key flute) I never did anything to protect the keypads from the standard-issue mineral bore oil I was using, and I never had any keypad problems from oil buildup. But then again I only played for about six years before retiring from band geekdom, so YMMV.

talasiga · Post by **talasiga** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 6:36 am

David Migoya wrote:typically all food-grade (meaning you can eat it) oils will go rancid in time.
......

I cannot understand this point if you are applying it to olive oil
because it has the highest monounsaturate content of any vegetal oil
and that means it is the most stable and resistant to rancidity.

The only reason I don't use olive oil is its "heaviness' and its other non oil nutrient factors which could attract wild life.
I prefer almond oil which is lighter and still has a comparable high monounsaturate content that makes it less prone to rancidity.

The thing is these two oils I mention do pretty well in the dry hot parts of Australia, in India and other tropical places. I really dont know why some of you need to refrigerate something that isn't going to go rancid anyway. (Unless , of course, you're talking keeping it around for years and years).

As for adding vitamin E, I have already expressed an opinion on the vitamin complex elsewhere.

Then there is the person who says heorshe dont like the smell of mineral oil. I never knew mineral oil had a smell.