Seery Flutes - Oil the Bore?
-
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2002 6:00 pm
- rich
- i see what you did there
- Posts: 609
- Joined: Mon May 14, 2001 6:00 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Toronto, Ontario
- Contact:
On a wooden flute, the oil doesn't make the bore smoother like a hard wood finish would -- it makes it less rough, by preventing the grain from raising from the moisture (since the wood in the bore is otherwise unfinished). It never gets smoother than the wood was in the first place.
Since you don't have to prevent the grain from raising with polymer, I can't begin to imagine what oiling the bore would accomplish.
I drop my Dixon polymer into the dishwater before I do the dishes every now and again; that seems to bring it back to top shape if it starts to get mung-y. I keep the cork out of the water, though.
(I wonder if they're dishwasher-safe? )
<ul>-Rich</ul>
Since you don't have to prevent the grain from raising with polymer, I can't begin to imagine what oiling the bore would accomplish.
I drop my Dixon polymer into the dishwater before I do the dishes every now and again; that seems to bring it back to top shape if it starts to get mung-y. I keep the cork out of the water, though.
(I wonder if they're dishwasher-safe? )
<ul>-Rich</ul>
- beowulf573
- Posts: 1084
- Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2002 6:00 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Houston, TX
- Contact:
A gentleman I took a workshop from this summer recommended using almond oil with a bit of vitamin E mixed on wooden flutes to help keep the moisture in the wood and to provide a smooth interior surface.
He claimed that it also improved the tone of delrin flutes. I've not yet tried it on mine, but I've been meaning to.
He claimed that it also improved the tone of delrin flutes. I've not yet tried it on mine, but I've been meaning to.
- peeplj
- Posts: 9029
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2002 6:00 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: forever in the old hills of Arkansas
- Contact:
I have both an M&E and a Seery polymer. I've never oiled the bore on either for fear it would damage the plastic over time, but if anyone has oiled a polymer instrument, I'd be interested in hearing from you how it worked and what difference (if any) it made in the sound.
--James
--James
http://www.flutesite.com
-------
"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending" --Carl Bard
-------
"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending" --Carl Bard
- beowulf573
- Posts: 1084
- Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2002 6:00 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Houston, TX
- Contact:
- rich
- i see what you did there
- Posts: 609
- Joined: Mon May 14, 2001 6:00 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Toronto, Ontario
- Contact:
Willing to give my all for Chiff and Fipple's R&D department, I just oiled the bore of my Dixon polymer. Well, that's not really the whole truth; I recently oiled my Sweetheart rosewood flute (aka the "Love-Hate Flute" -- currently in "Hate" mode, if you're curious).
Then I accidentally used my "clean" flute swab to swab it out, and got oil all over the swab. <i>Then</i> I accidentally used that oily swab to swab out my Dixon.
I didn't realize I did this until a couple of days later, when I realized that it wasn't just that I'd lost the blow, but that I'd been fighting the flute too. Looking down the bore, I could see it shiny with oil and lightly covered in dust.
Out came the dish soap, in went the flute. The bore's now dry again, and the flute's playing as good as ever.
From this, I conclude the following: With a wooden flute, the wood absorbs the oil. With a polymer flute, the oil isn't absorbed, so it coats the inside of the bore, and since it's <i>oil</i>, it collects dust and whatever other disgusting things might find their way down the bore of the flute, negatively influencing the sound of the flute.
<ul>-Rich</ul>
Then I accidentally used my "clean" flute swab to swab it out, and got oil all over the swab. <i>Then</i> I accidentally used that oily swab to swab out my Dixon.
I didn't realize I did this until a couple of days later, when I realized that it wasn't just that I'd lost the blow, but that I'd been fighting the flute too. Looking down the bore, I could see it shiny with oil and lightly covered in dust.
Out came the dish soap, in went the flute. The bore's now dry again, and the flute's playing as good as ever.
From this, I conclude the following: With a wooden flute, the wood absorbs the oil. With a polymer flute, the oil isn't absorbed, so it coats the inside of the bore, and since it's <i>oil</i>, it collects dust and whatever other disgusting things might find their way down the bore of the flute, negatively influencing the sound of the flute.
<ul>-Rich</ul>