I’m a bit weepy. My selfmade plumwood/art.ivory flute developed a crack in the barrel, and I’m pretty sure that the reason for this was overuse. It already had a very small hairline crack, but it seemed that the crack was only on the wood surface, so I did not pay much attention to it (probably a big fault).
Now the crack has widened while I tooted around on the flute this evening:
I immediately stopped playing and dried out the flute. I have no humidifier or something, so it’s just lying on my desktop for now…
What do you advise me to do now? Any hints what a fix of this might cost? I don’t have the tools for turning a new barrel, if I had, I would…
Many many thanks for every hint!
Gabriel
PS: Now I know that choosing Delrin for my new Jon C. flute was right…
How long did you season the wood before making the flute? I’d suspect unseasoned wood before "over use.
Your most cost effective repair at this point will be a glue repair. Do it at home for next to nothing (but it’ll look lousy) or pay a pro around $50 to do it right, although matching the wood color exactly on that flute isn’t likely.
Since you say you have no humidifier, I would think the relative humidity in your home got too dry and widened the already existing crack. Most people either humidify their rooms, or keep their wooden flute in some sort of container, with a humidifier in it during the heating season to prevent things like this.
Now, it would still be wise to humidify it, so the crack closes as much as possible, and doesn’t get worse. You will need it as closed as possible to have the repair done, anyway, whether you or someone else does it. Andreas would be the likely candidate for the job.
Sorry to hear it, but it can be fixed, almost as good as new.
you can fix it pretty easily w/ some liquid super glue.
I’ve done this before on a cracked barrel and it worked like a charm. Sand the excess from the surface and it shouldn’t be too noticeable.
I’d keep it in a humidified case to keep other cracks from forming due to the flute drying out too much.
Be careful of quick glue fixes! Superglue doesn’t bond wood together, as well as being brittle; it will crack open when the wood moves again. That part of the flute is also being constantly stressed while playing from the tenon beneath it. If you just throw some glue in there it’s going to be a pain (if not impossible) to get out for a more heavy duty repair. Take it to a knowledgeable woodwind repair person.
I should have been more precise in my wording: How long did the wood season after it was bored out? Then how long did it season between the first and final reaming? If the time period was relatively short, the it’s not surprising the barrel cracked when the humidity dropped.
It worked fine for me as I’m sure it has for others, yes even in an area that’s stressed by a tenon. A maker recommended this fix to me. It will cost you $2 max as opposed to 50+. Obviously you’d want to wait until the wood has dried somewhat and the crack has closed up some before you do it. The fix will be virtually invisible. I’d say that bonding wood together is exactly what superglue does. I dunno. If this crack was in a more critical place such as the head joint or mid sections (or foot), I’d definitely take it to a qualified repairperson. But this is a barrel we’re talking about. Just my opinion!
When there was a small crack in my Flute (even though it was in a tennon I wanted to stop it from spreading) I asked my engineer Uncle who said he fixed a cracked Clarinet with super glue. I did it on my Fltue and it worked perfectly fine. Of course you made this Flute so it is not like you are ruing someone elses work.
This has been discussed many times here, and also cracks and repair. If you do a search with the word humidifying, and select the flute forum, you will get many responses. This thread had 252 responses:
Something as simple as a plastic bag, and a piece of wet sponge kept in a container of some sort (even another small plastic bag with holes in it) so it doesn’t touch the wood will work to temporarily re-humidify your flute and close the crack. Read the post above, and it will explain in more detail.
I had this happen to a headjoint during a dry winter a couple of years ago here in Sweden and the maker suggested as a temporary fix putting the headjoint in a sealed container together with a damp sponge for a couple of days. This I did and the crack (on the backside of the head joint) closed completely up and became invisible to the eye. I ordered a new headjoint anyway just so that the flute would be as new. I use the original head joint all the time and just keep an eye on the humidity during the winter months and keep the flute in it’s box inside a plastic bag with a hygrometer and damp sponge. Prehaps over the top as I play just about every day. The crack hasn’t posed any problem at all.
For now, I placed bowls of water in my entire flat (1-room) to rise the humidity a bit. My father is going to order an air humidifier for me for testing, and when it’s good, I’ll keep it.
Additionally, I ordered a new (gun) case for my flute and pipes - might be perfect for humidified storage of my instruments.
By the way, the crack closed a bit overnight, so all has not been said and done.
I was under the impression that super glue didn’t make the same bond on wood that it did with plastics and such … apparently I’m mistaken. Best of luck with everything.
While supaglue and ebony-dust make an almost invisible reconstruction of the wood, it will not provide enough strength in the long run. Cracks need pins/stitches for a proper, permanent fix.
With all due respect, the amount of misinformation on this board is astonishing. I have been repairing cracks on flutes for over twenty years. Peter’s cautions and Terry’s abhorence of lined heads notwithstanding, there is nothing to be alarmed about when a piece of a flute cracks. I always use superglue.
I put the superglue in a line over the crack and suck it into the flute. Sometimes I put a bit of matching wood dust in with or on the superglue. Then I carefully shave the superglue down to the level of the wood, using a sharp knife. I fine sand the crack to the point where it is nearly invisible. Then I buff the wood.
While the glue might not bond with the wood totally it does bond sufficiently to seal the crack and stop the leak. If it opens again in due course the crack can be repaired once again. The important thing to remember is not to use wax or any substance that will in days to come make a more permanent repair more difficult.
Pinstitchng does not guarantee a permanent repair. I have repaired flutes that have opened in the original place of the stitching, along the crack the stitching was meant to prevent. Stitching is an ugly, inefficient repair procedure to use on a flute. Superglue provides a wonderful alternative to stitching and doesn’t scar the flute for life.
If the crack occurs along a lined head or barrel the repair is best effected by removing the barrel and removing old glue from the inside of the wood, also removing crud from the outer surface of the lining. Then when the lining is reinserted the wood is not stressed by being stretched over the metal.
The superglue procedure can be used instead of removing the metal liner. But unless the lining has been removed and cleaned, superglue should not be used to bond the crack surfaces after they are pulled together. Rather the superglue is used as a filler with some moderate adhesion to the edges of the crack.
Superfine (000) steel wool has worked very well for me in terms of making superglue repairs virtually invisible.
David, I’m curious about how you suck the superglue into the flute (I’ve superglued and steel-wooled inside and out before, but needless to say, getting at a crack from the inside of the flute can be a major pain).
Do you just close off all other air escape routes and – well, erm – inhale?
I think what Peter and I were driving at is that Super Glue is not a great long term fix for the problem. Not exactly misinformation.
I’ve had no personal experience with gluing, just been going on what I remember from apprenticing in an instrument repair shop (that’s going a bit back now though). I don’t think it’s strong enough to hold permanently, or has any flexibility when the wood shifts.
If the glue method does fail, I don’t see how you could remove the old stuff; and gluing on top of old glue can’t be as strong. I’d imagine super glue is strongest when it’s gluing two flat things together, but loses strength the more it starts acting as filler.
YMMV, apparently everyone who has done it is happy with the results. The only person who mentioned a crack repair failing is David. I’m not trying to give bad information … it’s just, I wouldn’t go throwing glue (that I’ll never be able to remove) in my flute unless it was the best option.
Superglue is easily removed with a multitude of common household solvents. You can cover and suck although one of those wine keeper pumps is safer on the lungs. Listen to David and be not afraid of repairing your own flute.
I dunno. If this crack was in a more critical place such as the head joint or mid sections (or foot), I’d definitely take it to a qualified repairperson. But this is a barrel we’re talking about. Just my opinion!