Preventing Cracks in Wood Instruments

A.K.A. to oil or not to oil the wood.

It is my personal opinion that wood, no matter how old, is a dynamic material, expanding and contracting in direct response to it's environment. There are many conflicting thoughts among "experts" on how to prevent cracking. No matter what anyone says, wood will respond to changes in humidity, temperature and barometric pressure. It is a combination of these forces that place stress on the wood. The more rapid the changes, the harder it is for the wood to adjust. Further stress is caused by the posts and register tubes that are inserted into the body. Another factor can be the quality of the wood itself and how long it had been stored and dried prior to machining it and inserting the posts and tubes. The quality of wood used in manufacturing has been fairly low for the last 10 or so years due to supply problems. I have actually seen wood used that has knots in it. Knots are very dense and I have seen cracks occur following the outline of the knot itself. Mpingo  (the African name for grenadilla)is a very slow growing tree that is also used by natives for fuel for cooking and heating as well as carving statues, masks and other objects that are sold worldwide. Only a small amount of the wood makes it's way to musical instruments.

Oiling may or may not be effective. However we feel it can't hurt. It helps protect against moisture though many fine players and repair people as well as makers of instruments suggest that the wood is so dense it can absorb only a very small amount of oil and in some cases that may temporarily deaden the tone. However, more and more techs are starting to oil woods using Sweet Almond oil and exotic formulas that contain a variety of natural substances. Who's right? Probably no one will ever know. After many years of being on the fence on this issue we at Desert Winds now believe in and use an Almond oil soak as part of our re-pad and overhaul procedure. It makes dry, old wood look great, it tightens up loose posts and some players swear it helps correct pitch problems and that "played out" feel many player complain about in older woodwinds.

With that said we still feel the best one can do to avoid cracks is use common sense and avoiding rapid changes of temperature, swab the moisture out regularly when it is being played. Not just when one is finished playing as is common but also in between pieces and during breaks. And praying when the weather becomes unstable can't hurt either.

I have worked in many parts of the country and have been in the desert for many , many years. I have noticed no real difference in the number of cracked instruments I see here as opposed to cooler, moister climates I have worked in. So just use some common sense by swabbing often and keeping the temperature and humidity as constant as possible.

ul