Hairline crack repair

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mendipman
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Tell us something.: I play flute and stringed instruments and enjoy playing in sessions and for step dancers and teach music part-time. My flutes are a new Gilles Lehart blackwood keyless in D, a c.1820 Clementi 'Nicholson improved' English boxwood single key in F and a simple-system 8-key English blackwood flute made by Richard Weekes of Plymouth, Devon c.1840 both in beautiful, pristine condition. I also have a wooden c.1880 English keyed flageolet. My home is in North Somerset a short distance from where my family come from at Blackford in the Mendip Hills and my repertoire are the tunes that are local to my area. That is the rural vernacular English music from when ordinary working people simply played and danced to their own rhythm with little concern for that which lay beyond a day's walk.
Location: Somerset, England

Hairline crack repair

Post by mendipman »

My flute has a hairline crack in the metal lined head joint. It doesn't affect the playing but it would look better if it was fixed.

Is it a repair that is straightforward to do myself without sending the flute to the repair shop?
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jemtheflute
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Re: Hairline crack repair

Post by jemtheflute »

DIY doable, probably, yes, depending on your talents and patience. "Straightforward", well..... Often yes, but not always. Normally no fancy tools or skills are needed, but sometimes they can become necessary. Have a look at some of my repair story-albums on Facebook - I've done a bunch of these jobs and taken lots of photos. One thing to bear in mind - it may be hairline now, but you still almost certainly ought to do the full job on it - remove rings and liner, glue crack, enlarge bore and refit liner, cosmetically dress the exterior and refit the rings. If you don't and just run glue into it, sooner or later it will open up again, and the metal liner is no guarantee of it not leaking - they can leak from the embouchure chimney between the wood and metal to the cracks or the ends. (Have you suck tested the head systematically with the stopper removed?)
I respect people's privilege to hold their beliefs, whatever those may be (within reason), but respect the beliefs themselves? You gotta be kidding!

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mendipman
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Tell us something.: I play flute and stringed instruments and enjoy playing in sessions and for step dancers and teach music part-time. My flutes are a new Gilles Lehart blackwood keyless in D, a c.1820 Clementi 'Nicholson improved' English boxwood single key in F and a simple-system 8-key English blackwood flute made by Richard Weekes of Plymouth, Devon c.1840 both in beautiful, pristine condition. I also have a wooden c.1880 English keyed flageolet. My home is in North Somerset a short distance from where my family come from at Blackford in the Mendip Hills and my repertoire are the tunes that are local to my area. That is the rural vernacular English music from when ordinary working people simply played and danced to their own rhythm with little concern for that which lay beyond a day's walk.
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Hairline crack repair

Post by mendipman »

Jem, the more extensive fix involving removing the liner is probably beyond the basic tools that I have. I'm not averse to learning how to repair but that sounds like a job I should entrust to a professional. Roughly how much should that sort of repair cost? I imagine that removing the liner would also enable fixing my stuck tuning slide at the same time?
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Re: Hairline crack repair

Post by jemtheflute »

Yes, the tuning slide would have to be freed - which is rarely a big problem. I don’t know what anyone else might charge for this type of job and, not having seen the flute either in photos or in the flesh I can't make more than a loose guesstimate based on experience. Depending on how straightforward or difficult the job proves, time is the main element - materials and tooling are negligible. Sight unseen I'd say it would likely be between £60-100 if I did it and no other work was involved.
I respect people's privilege to hold their beliefs, whatever those may be (within reason), but respect the beliefs themselves? You gotta be kidding!

My YouTube channel
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Low Bb flute: 2 reels (audio)
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mendipman
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Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2017 11:24 am
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Tell us something.: I play flute and stringed instruments and enjoy playing in sessions and for step dancers and teach music part-time. My flutes are a new Gilles Lehart blackwood keyless in D, a c.1820 Clementi 'Nicholson improved' English boxwood single key in F and a simple-system 8-key English blackwood flute made by Richard Weekes of Plymouth, Devon c.1840 both in beautiful, pristine condition. I also have a wooden c.1880 English keyed flageolet. My home is in North Somerset a short distance from where my family come from at Blackford in the Mendip Hills and my repertoire are the tunes that are local to my area. That is the rural vernacular English music from when ordinary working people simply played and danced to their own rhythm with little concern for that which lay beyond a day's walk.
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Hairline crack repair

Post by mendipman »

Jem, right now this is my one and only flute and as I am in full-on newbie woodshedding mode I'm a bit reticent to not have it around to play. But I will have a keyless shortly and then would be keen to get this one fixed. I can post up a photo of the crack for you to take a look at. If you say you can fix it I'd be very happy to entrust that fix to you.
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jemtheflute
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Re: Hairline crack repair

Post by jemtheflute »

Sure, post a photo or two. And give me a shout whenever you're ready.
I respect people's privilege to hold their beliefs, whatever those may be (within reason), but respect the beliefs themselves? You gotta be kidding!

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Low Bb flute: 2 reels (audio)
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The Sporting Pitchfork
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Re: Hairline crack repair

Post by The Sporting Pitchfork »

To add on to Jem's reply...
Don't be so sure the crack doesn't have any effect at all on the flute. The first winter I had my Morvan flute, the lined headjoint developed a hairline crack. I took it to a friend of mine who makes pipes, and he insisted that it was no big deal and that he could just fill it with black cobbler's wax and that would be fine. "Don't take it to some woodwind repair guy who'll charge you 200 bucks," he said. So he filled the crack, and I thought that was it. The flute seemed to play more or less OK, and I forgot about it.

Fast-forward almost a year later, and I begin to notice that the flute is definitely leaking from somewhere. This time, I took it to a woodwind repair guy, and when I open the case, he says, "Oh, I love working on flutes like these." OK, good sign. Turns out he's the go-to guy for many of the woodwind players in the Portland Baroque Orchestra.

I thought maybe it was just a leaky key or two, but after a quick inspection, he told me that yes, while a couple of the keys weren't quite airtight, the real problem was air leaking between the metal lining and the wood exterior of the headjoint. He took it all apart and did the repair properly--the filled crack is almost totally invisible now. But when I played it for the first time, I was amazed--it was more responsive and easier to play than when I initially bought it. In the end, it did cost me close to 200 bucks, but it was definitely worth it.

If you don't live near a good flutemaker, I'd definitely recommend finding an experienced woodwind repairman in your neck of the woods if at all possible. Sometimes it's best not to leave these things to chance.
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