European source for flute pads?

Irish Flute
1

Hi All,

I would like to re-pad an old four-key flute soon, but have searched in vain for a European supplier of ‘traditional’ flute pads – i.e. not the pricy pads with a hole in the middle designed for $5000+ Miyazawa concert flutes :=)

Anyone have a recommendation for a UK or continental European supplier?

Cheers,


Ed

2

There are several, contact any of the flute makers and you should be able to find a supplier. In times of need I use clarinet pads, they seem to work quite well for the dimensions of my flute’s keys.
You should be able to get addresses and contact numbers from this site by trawling through the old posts.

3

why don’t you try to repad them with the silicone method?
there’s a thread about it somewhere here.

4

you could try www.windcraft.co.uk maybe.
berti

5

Hi Folks,

Thanks for all the help, especially from Berti! I’ll ask Windcraft about their pads (of which they seem to have quite a few)

Actually, I have already re-padded the flute using the silicone method, to get it into a playable condition. However, although it plays quite well, I’d like to try doing it with real pads before selling it. One problem is that the keys have quite deep ‘cups’, which means that I needed a whole lot of silicone in there to get any coverage on the holes, especially the Eb key.

Cheers,


Ed

6

The flute I just got from Tom Aebi has pads cut from sheets of a sort of thin plastic foam. I think Tom said that its a product for kids to make models with or something.

You can take these pads off and wash them with a solvent if they get dirty or oily. They seem very hardy and make a perfect seal.

Regards,

Harry.

p.s. Tom fills the ‘cup’ of the key head with a piece of cork. This forms a flat surface to take the pad. I used to use Blue Tac (poster putty) to do the same thing and never had any trouble with it. It was much easier to apply and remove than glue.

7

Hi Harry,

These kinds of toys -models?

Would be cool if it still had the print on :slight_smile:

I remember the material of these small planes as some kind of compressed styrofoam. I can imagine they make a good seal. Very creative solution…
(though I do prefer the looks of purse pads).

cheers,
Jeroen

8

Not quite that sort of stuff I think. More like a dense, plyable foam like you might see on the underside of a mouse mat or modern table lamp to keep them from moving.

I remember those little planes well though. They were much more fragile than this stuff, but more sky worthy!

BTW, you can get this stuff in a full range of colours.

Regards,

Harry.

9

Which raises the question: Blue Tac, plumber’s tape or hose clamps. Which of these is the flute player’s biggest friend?

10

Not quite that sort of stuff I think. More like a dense, plyable foam like you might see on the underside of a mouse mat or modern table lamp to keep them from moving.

Neoprene foam. John Gallagher uses the stuff for his key pads too. It’s a great idea – they’d probably last longer than the flute itself.

11

I wouldn’t go that far (if we’re talking about the same stuff): Neoprene is good stuff - easy to work with, seals well, etc. We used it quite a bit for repadding (on non vH instruments), but it does start to come apart over time, and it is particularly susceptible to rapid degeneration when exposed to even small amounts of solvents. The sealing side also tears, and chunks out very easily, which can be a problem when people over oil and/or don’t completely dry their flutes, since oil that is left on keyed tone hole surfaces can become very tacky, and quickly ruin these pads.

All in all, this foam material makes for a good alternative, however from what I’ve seen, well maintained leather pads are far more durable, easily lasting 20 plus years. The typical life of foam pads seems to be somewhere in the range of 2-5 years or so, at least that’s what we saw.

Loren

12

Yes , that makes sense. I think it may actually have been some sort of an abraisive that Tom recommended for cleaning. I’ll ask him again, there was a lot of information by my standards.

Regards,

Harry.

13

Though I should finally give some feedback to this thread!

I got around to re-padding my flute in the end, and used four bassoon pads (white leather), shellac and some ultra fine grade wire wool (all from www.windplus.co.uk) to do it.

It was, I must say, actually pretty easy:

  1. Take key and put a small piece of shellac in it (I overdid some of these the first time: you really don't need that much).
  2. Heat this carefully. I used a lighter because I could adjust the flame to practically nothing.
  3. Wait a second or two. The key gets hotter, I know :=)
  4. When the shellac bubbles, *immediately* transfer the key to the flute, placing it in position and pinning it as fast as possible.
  5. Let it set for a bit (shellac apparently sets very quickly)
  6. Keeping the key on the flute, now re-heat the key *very very carefully* in position. The *nanosecond* it bubbles/the pad comes a bit loose, immediately stop and press the key lightly on to its key hole on the flute.
  7. Let everything cool down and sand any excess shellac off with the wire wool.
  8. Now get the soot off the keys with more wire wool

The difference this made to the flute in comparison with the silicone method is incomparable. In fact, I managed to sell the flute (the whole point why I was going the re-padding) just a week later: the lady buyer played it for a whole session weekend and was very taken with it. I also know that it had never sounded so good as after re-padding!

What I found:

  • The keys get hot and I needed to get them on the flute fast: I don't know what other way would avoid nearly burning one's fingers in the process. Gloves would make manhandling the keys more difficult :=)
  • The tip (which I also got on this forum) about re-heating the key in place on the flute is the BEST RE-PADDING TIP EVER. It made a huge difference to the sound and the fit became not just "good" but "perfect".
  • Hot shellac smokes and then stinks to high heaven. I don't think it's actually toxic, but work in a room with good air conditioning -- or outside!
  • The people at windplus.co.uk are really nice! I would definitely order again (on this, see below...)
The result was better than I had expected and the whole thing took tops about 40 minutes. I was expecting it to be much longer!

Since I am now not afraid of shellac repadding I am going to order a bunch of new pads and re-pad an old six-key fife that I got on eBay for about €30. Hopefully the re-padding will make this poor instrument playable. At the moment, anything more than the bell note sounds pretty dodgy…

Cheers,


Ed

14

At which point do you put the pad on the key? Just after fitting the key back on the flute, or just before? And wouldn’t small pliers (the gripping, not the cutting kind) help to handle the hot keys?

thanks

Sonja

15

The shellac method is what I was taught too (by Chris Abell…he uses an alcohol lamp, which provides the right amount of gentle heat to melt the shellac without getting the key really hot.)

I must say, though, that in more than 20 years of flute playing I have never had a pad fall off, nor have I ever had to replace or re-seat a pad. Maybe I’m just lucky, but I think having good leather pads has something to do with it.

16

Moin Sonja,

I put the pad on first, and then replaced the key. It’s important to check that the pad is seated OK before replacing the key. I think small pliers would have helped, although I also think that using a less hot flame (s suggested in the last post) would have also avoided the key getting quite so hot!

Indeed, after seeing how well the “heat the key on the flute” method worked, I would be inclined to worry less next time about getting the key back on the flute fast. Instead, I’d make quite sure that the pad sits well on the key first, before placing it back on the flute. And then re-heat very carefully and gently ad libitum to get the right seating. I got lucky this time: the six-key fife I want to do next is a dimension smaller than the old German flute I have just done, and I will not be able to “rush” anything on that job :=)

Cheers,


Ed

17

As I have an old german flute in need of cleaning and repadding lying at home, another (maybe stupid) question: how did you get the (post mounted, I assume?) keys off without special tools? Or did you use special tools, and if yes, which?

thanks,
Sonja

18

Better post mounted instruments have what is essentially a threaded screw for an axle (only one end is threaded), in which case you just need the proper size screw driver.

For the less well made instruments, it’s often just a piece of rod stock pressed through the posts and key. In this case an apropriately sized needle spring (or very small rod stock) sharp end cut-off, with the rest held in a pin vise, usually works. However, if the fit is very tight, or something has bent, or there is corrosion, more drastic measures may be neccesary, at which point it’s best to let let someone experienced deal with the problem.



Loren

19

Although sometimes one end of the pin is slightly flared, so it only goes in and out one way – if you’re having trouble pushing it out, try it from the other end, it might be easier. My old German flute was set up this way.

20

He, I feared someone might say that :slight_smile: I promise I’ll be very careful. The instrument in question is certainly not too valuable, just a very well-preserved german flute from an unknown maker, and I suspect it may play nice with new pads. Unfortunately I don’t know any flute / woodwind maker in my area who could have a look at it.

peace,
Sonja