Chiff and Fipple Forums

Am I stranded on the "Ireland that we dream of?" There may or may not be comely maidens dancing. Accounts differ. I like comely maidens, and would try to charm them with my flute. The Low whistle hasn't been invented yet Am I stranded on the Ireland imagined in Irish pubs worldwide? There'...

I’d bring a flute

I had dinner the other night with a friend, a physicist who worked for decades in US nuclear policy analysis including for DARPA, which is a center and clearinghouse for cutting edge or possibly crazy technologies and ideas. He said he knew the editor of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, and that s...

As far as oiling goes, I just got this in an email from a well known maker "NEVER USE A VEGETABLE OIL ON YOUR BLACKWOOD FLUTE!!!!! That's the best way to kill it.... Only mineral oil." Meanwhile the Olwell website says the opposite and suggests almond oil, which is what I have been using :-?

The middle section of the flute will be heading to Patrick Olwell for repair tomorrow. I won't reveal the details of a private email exchange but Mr Olwell is a gentleman

That's horrifying!

I wonder if what we call in the states "denatured alcohol" might do the trick. of fuming the case in a closed container with ammonia?

Thank you David and Geoffrey, very much

Thank you for all the replies! I have been playing it a lot, but also oiling it lightly and judiciously, maybe every three weeks, swabbing it always and keeping it humidified. I guess I did something wrong, but it's hard to know what and that's the worrisome part. I went to a session this afternoon ...

Thank you Paddler. I always swab it out after playing--I'm kind of obsessive about it since the night I woke up to the sound of my upright bass cracking. It's a solid wood bass and cost a lot of money and it had only just paid itself of with lots of local gigging. The expensive repair put it back in...

I got two small digital hygrometers figuring their inaccuracies would average out. They are usually with 3-5 points of each other, like one will say 67 and the other will say 70 or 71. I have been making a point of going to more sessions lately, so maybe the drier air in pubs has been having an effe...

I got an Olwell keyless in October, after ordering it 15 months before. I love the flute, it's a real joy to play, but just now I noticed this alarming crack in the center section The flute is kept in a pelican case with two digital hygrometers monitoring the humidity level, and it's never dropped b...

Don't want to violate forum rules but yes, worrisome.

We live about 5 miles from the pentagon

I have one of those Pelican thin laptop cases Jayhawk pictured, and I like it but the pick and pluck foam tends to kid of fall apart. There's a guy on Youtube who sprays it with that spray rubber or spray plastic stuff to keep it more in place. Also the thin case doesn't have a handle, which bothers...

Allergies to wood can develop over time. I used to work with cocobolo. I had not problem at all, the gradually began developing symptoms which rapidly got worse. Naso-respiratory issues and then a weird druggy lightheaded sensation that stayed around. I got the reaction even when working in a respir...

I feel obliged to point out that Ian Anderson owes a LOT to Roland Kirk, whose song "serenade to a cuckoo" Jethro Tull covered. I recommend Roland Kirk. he was weird and cool--he would often play with two horns in his mouth at once, for example, sometimes even three, showing that he apprec...