mercifully, my tone holes seem to be okay...it's the embrochure hole that needs tweaking, it's just a plain old hole...drilled...
i read teh threads about oiling and the wooden recorder site who said extra fine olive oil was okay as an almond oil substitute, so that's what i did...it's drying now...
Pakistani F Flute (Ebay again)
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Jayhawk
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OK - If you're going to go down this road I have a few recommendations. Now that you've oiled it, try the damp sponge in a ziplock bag for about a week routine (naturally, the flute is in with the sponge 
). Mine, and other people I've heard from, said their flutes came in as dry as kindling.
So you've checked the tone holes, and looked through the bore to make sure there are no splinters anywhere, right? Well, after the week or rehydration for the dry wood, I'd first remove the end cap (if there is one) and pop out the "cork". Notice the quotes, mine didn't have cork, but had this spongy stuff instead which leaked air like you wouldn't believe. I think these sponge corks are common, and often just replacing that with a real cork (wine cork sanded to fit or buy one at your local hardware store) makes all the difference in the world. The end of the cork needs to be about one headjoint diameter distance from the middle of the embouchure hole (this is important as it will change the tuning in your upper octave notes).
Notice, you've not cut or sanded anything yet. My advice is try all the above first. Also, you'll need to check how tightly the sections fit together. If they're loose, try cork grease from a music store first to see if that tightens the seal. If not, use some waxed, nylon dental floss to wrap a few layers to tighten the joints. Now, with all that, you've done all the basics to give the flute a chance to work as is.
If the lower notes all work, but the flute gets out of tune on just a few of the higher notes, you might need to undercut the hole beneath the note you're playing to raise the pitch. If that note is flat in both octaves, you'll probably need to enlarge the hole overall instead of undercutting.
But first, start with the non-cutting stuff and see what you've got.
Good luck,
Eric
). Mine, and other people I've heard from, said their flutes came in as dry as kindling.So you've checked the tone holes, and looked through the bore to make sure there are no splinters anywhere, right? Well, after the week or rehydration for the dry wood, I'd first remove the end cap (if there is one) and pop out the "cork". Notice the quotes, mine didn't have cork, but had this spongy stuff instead which leaked air like you wouldn't believe. I think these sponge corks are common, and often just replacing that with a real cork (wine cork sanded to fit or buy one at your local hardware store) makes all the difference in the world. The end of the cork needs to be about one headjoint diameter distance from the middle of the embouchure hole (this is important as it will change the tuning in your upper octave notes).
Notice, you've not cut or sanded anything yet. My advice is try all the above first. Also, you'll need to check how tightly the sections fit together. If they're loose, try cork grease from a music store first to see if that tightens the seal. If not, use some waxed, nylon dental floss to wrap a few layers to tighten the joints. Now, with all that, you've done all the basics to give the flute a chance to work as is.
If the lower notes all work, but the flute gets out of tune on just a few of the higher notes, you might need to undercut the hole beneath the note you're playing to raise the pitch. If that note is flat in both octaves, you'll probably need to enlarge the hole overall instead of undercutting.
But first, start with the non-cutting stuff and see what you've got.
Good luck,
Eric