I have had an ongoing problem with my flute being out of tune. I am quite sure that some of this is my fault but even with a great deal of effort I cannot consistently get a tune out of it that is ‘in tune’ only at times something that is closer to ‘in tune’ than at other times.
Anyway I decided to play around with the cork position to see what if anything that might achieve, and removed the cork only to discover that somebody had stuck something rather disgusting looking in the head of my flute. If I were ever to find something similar in a bottle of wine there is no way I would be drinking the contents of the bottle. As far as I can tell the cork is tight fitting and there isn’t a leakage problem but the surface of the cork is cracked and very uneven.
To think that this is the cause of all my problems is probably clutching at straws (and probably somewhat delusional) but if nothing else I would like to gain a better understanding of how much the cork condition can play in intonation. Thanks,
Nate
I would replace it with a new cork.
Be careful with the fit; it needs to be tight but not too tight, or you risk cracking the headjoint.
–James
Get a Bigio
Hey Nate,
You could just “reface” the cork. Sand down the offending face, taking care to keep it square with the sides. Then the face can be painted or waxed to keep moisture from absorbing and growing cultures. 
All the Best!
Regarding the Bigio I didn’t know what that was, or if you were joking, so looked up the web site. Still not sure if you’re joking, but those stoppers look interesting and not expensive. Do you have one and if so how much difference has it made? I ask more from curiosity than anything. I have already spent a lot more on this flute than it deserves, financially and otherwise.
I wish I had read the ‘beware of Ebay flutes’ thread before I impulsively purchased this thing. Well you live and learn…slowly in my case. Anyway I shall play around with this cork for a few more days using the suggestions above. Like I said I’m just clutching at straws hoping to get this flute semi-playable while I’m waiting to get back to work and can then purchase something with a future.
Thanks for the advice everyone.
Nate
+1 (Thanks, Jordan!)
Sand off the face of the cork squarely, as Jordan suggested, and then put it back into its “correct” position, in the head joint.
Meanwhile, you could wash the entire flute, including the cork, in grain alcohol, inside and out, and then give it a thorough oiling with raw, cold pressed linseed oil.
After all of that, you could then see just what the flute could be worth.
Every Cork needs a good Fin(n)ish! 
They all sound Sami (samey?) to me though. 
Seriously, yes, tidy it up or replace it. I use those plastic wine bottle “corks” these days - you can cut them to tube size by warming the male tuning slide of the flute (very carefully) in a gas flame and then pushing it longitudinally down the “cork” (may take a few goes of heating and pushing but much easier than sanding down a real cork! [Doesn’t squeal ] ), cut off at a suitable length flush across the end of the tube, glaze the end with a hot knife in situ, push it back out with a dowel (may be quite stiff), grease it and pop it in the top end (attached to adjuster/crown if any - just melt a hole in it with a skewer and screw/glue it onto the adjuster prong). I sometimes face stoppers with filed down coins (Euro 10 cents are a good “blank”), but I honestly cannot hear any difference in tone quality. As Cork says, correct positioning is important for the intonation of the octaves.
Footnote: before anyone panics, it doesn’t take that much heat to melt your way through a plastic “cork”. I’ve done the procedure described above quite a few times (more than 12) with no ill effects to the flute head - no cracking, no melting out of tube fixing, etc. You don’t need anything near red hot, and you only need to heat the very edge (end 5-10mm) of the tuning slide/liner tube. You can hold it safely by the wooden head - no burnt hands! Of course, if Nate does it before gluing his liner tube back in, it would be even safer for the flute, though he’d need to insulate his hands on the tube.
Another thought. I recently made a replacement crown & adjuster for a Metzler I’m working on which had lost its original. I hard soldered a piece of threaded brass studding rod (M5 size) onto the centre of a coin, which I then filed down to a snug fit in the liner tube and a smooth outer face (put rod + coin in pillar drill and held files up to it as an improvised lathe). I made a cork as described but melted a hole right through the centre with a heated skewer, then put it over the rod and used a nut and washer to hold it in place. I had a wooden crown turned up by an acquaintance who has a lathe and the necessary skills, with a recess on the inner side into which I fixed another nut with epoxy putty (Milliput) and I filed off the thread on the part of the rod projecting beyond the crown to look tidy. Not quite like the original would have been, but a good substitute and probably more durable.
thanks again to everybody for their helpful advice. I will be putting all of this into practice over the next few days. If nothing else a combination of pure alcohol, linseed oil and naked flame may very well put this flute, my family ,the neighbours and anyone else who has had to listen to it/me out of their misery for good!!
I just discovered that the tenon of the body, where it joins the barrel creates a rim that extends above the metal liner by about 1mm. Ignorant as I am on these matters I kind of feel that this is not such a good thing.
Anyway I am boring myself on the subject so this stuff must be very tedious for anyone else. I’m a persistent b…r though and will keep on trying with this thing if for no other reason than I have nothing else to work on and nothing else to play.
Sincerely, thanks again.
Nate
Quick postscript. Thanks Jemtheflute for your suggestion and additional explanation. I will definitely be trying this and had already been trying to figure out how to utilise a plastic cork.
Linseed oil, yes, but please don’t use the linseed oil as commonly available at hardware stores, aka “boiled” linseed oil, which is not pure linseed oil.
The raw, cold-pressed linseed oil I refer to likely could be found at an “art” supply store, ordinarily for use with artist oil paints.
It may also be more economically available at an “organic” food store, where it could be known as flax oil.
Pure flax oil and pure linseed oil are one and the same thing.
Well here goes.. I have tried all of the above advice and very good advice it was too. Jemtheflutes method of turning a plastic wine bottle cork into a stopper actually works very well and is relatively easy to do. Thank you for that Jem… thank you also Cork for introducing me to linseed oil, I have tried it and it certainly seems to be an improvement over the almond oil that I had been using. I understand entirely why some would object to the use of linseed oil but nevertheless it does seem that wood ( as Cork stated in another thread) really does love the stuff. My understanding of this is purely ‘intuitive’ and based on my own comparisons between almond oil, which I have used a lot and linseed oil which I have used only once. I have never used commercial bore oil so cannot comment.
Regarding ‘Lark in the morning’ from whom I bought this piece of crap flute I would like to say a few more things. I was once a fairly competent flute player twenty or so years ago. I played in sessions alongside some pretty unforgiving musicians. I was nothing special but I could hold up my end and it was rare that I received complaints from other musicians. I was regularly called to new venues and to one off events by musicians far more talented than myself. I have spent the last three months wondering where that all went when I cannot now even play in tune. At first I understandably believed that after twenty years I could not expect to have the same embouhure etc that I had had before but as time has gone on it has become more and more apparent to me that the flute has been at fault. I am guilty here insofar as I never educated myself at all in how a flute works. It was kind of like that back in the milieiu in which I learnt. As an example those players who had keys on their flutes( myself included) taped them up. Nobody was interested in trying to use them and simply found them to be an impediment on an already flawed and difficult to understand instrument. There were some musical geniuses around at that time ( I do not count myself amoungst them) but in some ways we were all ignoramuses( I think I invented that last word).
I doubt that anyone finds this interesting but the point I am trying to make is that I have been beating my head against a brick wall for the last 3 months and have spent $300 on a flute that has made me feel like the biggest piece of crap in the universe. I am not as bad as this flute has made me feel I am. I am only glad that I did not pick up one of these ‘Lark In The Morning’ pieces of crap as a complete beginner. If I had I am quite sure that I would not have got as far as I have. I will take every opportunity in the future to dissuade others from buying ANYTHING from these con merchants even be it something as innocuous as sheet music.
OK rant over… you gotta larf right?
Sigh, larf is probably all you can do in your position, and if after all that you can still larf, well I’d say you’re well on the road to recovery.
But, like you mention, I feel for the complete beginner who, having been awoken to the magic of this music and instrument by hearing a good player on an at least acceptable flute, contacts an apparently well-connected outlet like Lark, Hobgoblin, or even some in Ireland, and are sold complete rubbish at often high prices, their hopes dashed. It won’t make you happier to know that the wholesale price the Pakistani manufacturer offers me (in unsolicited emails) is US$55.
Terry
Thanks for your input Terry. The fact that these flutes are offered to you for $55 you’re right does not make me feel any happier. It makes you wonder how much the craftsman actually making these things can be getting paid. I feel kind of sorry for them as much as anything else.
Thanks again everyone for your input and advice, I think it is probably futile to try too much longer with this particular flute but whenever I come on this site I always learn a great deal and won’t be making the same mistakes twice. I am definitely recieving a much needed education in all aspects of the flute from everybody here so generous with their knowledge and experience.
Nate
^If I may so presumptuous to add, I performed professionally on a classical or Boehm style flute for many years in my youth; and even though I used Irish riffs and lipped up my silver flute it is another thing to play a simple system flute. It took me about 3 months of daily playing to be able to just pick it up and play without hunting for the ‘right’ position and lip tension.
So, while a decent flute is a must (if for no other reason, to know that it should do), developing your embouchure for this instrument does generally take some time and patience.
Just my two cents - good luck and happy tootin’!
Slainte