Chiff and Fipple Forums

And a reminder, before we get to smug about our nice blackwood or boxwood flutes that no flute is 100% safe from the ravages of moisture. (Well, maybe Delrin, but I haven't confirmed that!) So, worthwhile to examine your bore from time to time, and see how it's going. It should generally remain shin...

Some time has elapsed (almost a month - it seems much more!) since our last words on this topic. I thought I should round it out rather than leave it up in the air! We'd got to the point that I'd done a lot of sanding and polishing of the bore, and given the flute two coats of drying oil. Discussion...

... the term "reedless aerophones" includes the flute family and excludes every instrument I wanted to exclude. Now there is an old line of argument that says the flute family must have a reed or it wouldn't work, and so they came up with the "air reed" or "air blade" ...

I can't bring to mind any attempt to use valves on flutes in the way brass use valves - to increase or decrease the length of tubing in use. Interestingly, Potter used the term "valve" for what we call pewter plug keys. Here's an augmented extract from his 1785 Patent document: The Valves ...

I don't think it will do any harm, Andro. I'd give preference to a superglue with a resilient filler, such as Selley's Power Grip. Or search C&F for "the old handkerchief trick". But, consider this. The dry weather is shrinking the wood causing the rings to loosen and fall off. But the...

I've seen and heard reports of makers who saturate their newly made flutes in none drying oils, and even some who have tried using vacuum infusion to force oil into the wood. I even thought about trying that myself at once stage, but then decided that it would probably be a bad idea because with sh...

I don't think it's moisture. It looks pretty clear (as much as you can tell - it's only weeping) and it feels a bit sticky, even after wiping off and leaving the flute out of the sun for a day or so more. So, I'm guessing it's remnant almond oil. I can't think of any way to test the theory. I did wo...

Oooh, interesting. You'll remember the weeping, which I reported as coming from the quarter-sawn planes of the flute tubes. I rationalised that as being the more readily mobile planes for liquids to pass through. This morning the flute is back in the sun, and weeping is again noticeable, but now its...

When I did metal rings, I had to make seven of them in various sizes for a single flute, and it dawned on me at some point that I was spending as much time manufacturing the rings as I was spending on the rest of the flute! Heh heh, I remember years back coming to a conclusion like that. At that ti...

Very interesting, Paddler, and makes perfect sense. Ironic that to become a useful lattice for the Cactus Juice, the timber had to be really open grained. So the flute I'm working with probably lies halfway between the premium woods such as Blackwood, and the more open timber such as you mention wor...

We have certainly had a bit of a run of timber and oil issues lately! And I am expecting more as the planet warms and wooden flutes dry out more. Flutes made in England used to crack when taken to the US, Australia and India. Then of course they invented central heating, and the flutes started to cr...

We’re often warned about “the dangers of Globalisation”. I’m writing on a much scarier concern, the danger of Globulisation. I was contacted by the overseas owner of a flute that was behaving badly. It’s a modern flute, but not one of mine. It’s a simple style flute, conical, with no tuning slide or...

Returning to this post for an end-of-season update. You'll remember I got violent with a really old commercial whistle that had been relegated to car duty, but was too awful for even that lowly role. I tweaked it (see above) and was really happy with the results. But wondered if the tweaking could h...

Been contacted by a chap in Illinois. He has an early Firth Hall & Pond flute that would benefit from a bit of work if someone fancied a "project". The flute appears to be unstained boxwood, with integral wooden turned rings rather than bone, ivory or metal. It comes in four parts, a h...

I’ve seen your metal slide Terry, and it’s definitely an elegant solution. I presume you use a small amount of adhesive to hold things together? Or does friction simply do its part? Just friction and cork compression - I've made cutters for the two ends that just allow for the silver of the slide p...