Gary Ray is one of the main guys at Wichita Band. He has been in the music industry for a very, very long time. I also believe he has a 2 year warranty on about anything that they do.
One thing I would like to eloborate. Many times in written form techs will write someone out in a short, generalized fashion. I do this all the time myself. As John mentioned Mr. Naylor uses a special process .. but he doesnt outline that process step by step in his website.
Oiling a wood body is fine.
Soaking it, under knowledgeable supervision is also fine.
I've had to overhaul previously overhauled clarinets due to bodies being soaked without knowledgeable supervision. Primary reason being too much oil in the wood or under metal parts that weren't properly cleaned of excess oil.
My oil process varies dependent upon the condition of the wood AND type of wood - from a surface rub to a oil soak.
Various types of wood soak up oil at different rates. In barrel making I found this out FAST as the wood I get is already dried but not heat/pressure oil treated.
For example, I soaked a rosewood barrel and found out the absorption rate was way too fast and part of it became soggy - yes, like it would look rotted. this then required me to put it in a heat chamber to leech out the excess oil. I then cut it down a bit to get rid of that particular section. I start out with 72mm cuts anyways.
But, also the preparation and surface (inside and out) of the wood is also impoirtant when dealing with dried wood.
African Blackwood is very dense, extremely dense as John mentioned. I treat African Blackwood completely differently than Rosewood, which is different from Ebony and Mopani.
Matter of fact don't generalize African Blackwood either. I've had two pieces of 2 x2 x 8 in my hands and one weighed a good 1 lb heavier than the other piece.
You may recall I did a barrel for Gandalfe in Applewood for his boxwood clarinet. This wood soaked up oil and Expanded quite librerally. So much so that the barrel socket expanded and thus no longer fit on the clarinet - I'm talking that it wasn't even close. This was dried, raw wood from 2x2x8 blocks. But as the oil absorbs more deeply into the wood from the surface it balances out and "readjusts". but this takes time.
The clarinet that you and I buy already has been heat/pressure treated at the factory. Various manufacturers use various types of woods. They even mix upper joint and lower joint woods.
Bodies over time and how they are stored, and played generally will dry out here and there due to weather, and water penetration. From playing, the first places for this would be the barrel sockets.
I've had some severally dried out clarinets and especially barrels pass through my hands. Most people would probably just throw them out thinking they were dead. A good oil treatment can bring back the life and dimensions of that wood .. ie, such as Mr. Naylor elaborates on.
Back to Mr.Ray. I use chemical dips on saxophone bodies, not on clarinets (if i were to guess he probably does the same). I certainly wouldn't use it on a clarinet. I also don't use soap and water - I could, but I have another process for all of that even before I get to the body oiling process. But using soap and water, as John mentions, it needs to be dried out fairly quickly. And one needs to do a quality check for the rings and posts .. though theoretically the screwed in ones are very tight but the post inserted ones may allow water to seep into the post root.
Wichita band has a fairly extensive process/shop there. I believe they also replate keywork in house. I suspect his process is much more extensive than what he has written while also undergoing certain quality checks along the way. It's their secrete process !!
I have a process from top to bottom of a clarinet. Though, I don't have that process listed on my website. Some things took me years to evolve too which I'm not about to give up for free to have other people scrutinize that only have tried something once and found it not suittable to their tastes even though they simply don't have the appropriate equipment or knowledge. (my only rant)
I can ask Mr Ray to eloborate if you wish. He has gone through my website in certain areas and given me corrected information on some historical information. He also has a ton of very interesting stories of years past of big names in the industry. I'm sure, there's more to their process than what is written.
by the way, wood eating utensils, bowls etc in their process are normally given an oil soak (various makers use various types and mixtures) to stabilize the wood and prevent water absorption (such as from uncooked chicken sitting on them) to prevent backteria. They also may use various other edible coatings on it such as various waxes to give them a nice shiny look. Some tables have a surace coating only, and once that wears out the raw wood can be a problem with absorption ... just take a look at an old, cheap cutting boards. also .. don't put your untreated table in a sunny part of the house, it can dry it out.
