Grease threaded tenon joints?

roj · Post by **roj** » Sat May 05, 2007 11:25 am

Hi all,

Say, do threaded tenon joints get greased the same as cork joints?

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Sat May 05, 2007 11:42 am

Yes.

You need to water-proof the threads so that water won't be trapped underneath; cork grease is a simple way to do that.

Also any joint can unexpectedly become stiff, be it thread or cork--in which case having greased the joint can make it much easier to separate the tenon.

--James

dow · Post by **dow** » Sat May 05, 2007 11:45 am

What James said, and there are probably as many different recipes for thread grease as there are players. I'm sure that others will chime in with their favorite. My flute has cork, but the Burns Folk Flute I used to have had thread wrapped tenons. I used a grease made from beeswax melted with almond oil to give it the right consistency. I know of one player who uses carmex to grease hers, and I've heard of people useing grease from a wax toilet ring (of course it would be a new one. Stop think that!).I don't know if people use cork grease or not, but it should work as well.

Oops. I guess that might be more information than you wanted.

roj · Post by **roj** » Sat May 05, 2007 11:53 am

Many thanks!

In The Woods · Post by **In The Woods** » Sat May 05, 2007 12:19 pm

FWIW: I tried the toilet bowl wax ring stuff for the threads on my Highland pipes, but as I recall it was very sticky stuff. It does work, but you'll be pretty well gummed up with it afterwards. And yes, go buy a fresh ring, by all means!

With best regards,

Steve Mack

Wormdiet · Post by **Wormdiet** » Sat May 05, 2007 2:42 pm

I use the Vito cork grease from a music store, designed for clarinets. It works fine.

clark · Post by **clark** » Sat May 05, 2007 3:13 pm

Dow's suggestion about bees wax mixed with other oils works well. I use beeswax with coconut, sunflower, and pepermint oils with Vit E and lanolin; but you don't have to mix it yourself. Burt's Bees lip balm does it for you.

I used to use the cork grease that comes in the tubes and looks like lip balm, but because I also use lip balm when I play I would occasionally apply the cork grease to my lips and the lip balm to the cork. Because the lip balm works well on the cork (or threads) and the cork grease does not taste so good I eliminated the cork grease and now use the lip balm for everything. Works for me.

Clark

brianormond · Post by **brianormond** » Sat May 05, 2007 3:55 pm

I use blue cross-country ski wax which works well and is less goopy than the red wax made for warmer/wetter snow.

- A quick trick for too-packed thread: Run a thumbnail fore and aft along the thread, rotating the section for multiple scratches. This will raise wax enough to tighten the joint, creating a temporary fit until its rewrapped.

Hoovorff · Post by **Hoovorff** » Sat May 05, 2007 5:34 pm

When I received my Cameron traverso, he included a Burt's Bees lip balm stick to use as tenon grease. I love the smell! I use it now on my Irish flute too! If that's not handy, cork grease works too, as someone noted earlier.

Jeanie

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Mon May 07, 2007 9:28 am

Hoovorff wrote:When I received my Cameron traverso, he included a Burt's Bees lip balm stick to use as tenon grease. I love the smell! I use it now on my Irish flute too! If that's not handy, cork grease works too, as someone noted earlier.

Jeanie

I've used Burt's Bees myself in a pinch, and Jeanie's right -- it smells great! Otherwise, I just use cork grease, or the beeswax/almond oil block if the joints are a bit loosey-goosey but not loose enough to require Teflon tape.