This topic has been discussed on the message board several times, but I am still not getting the total picture yet. Following are my questions:
Do I need to oil both inside and outside of the flute tube? The outside is easy to oil but how do I oil the inside wall of the flute tube?
What is the best tool and oil to oil the flute?
How do I avoid getting oil on the metallic ring, tuning slide and cork when I oil the flute? Does the oil cause the matellic ring, tuning slide and cork damage?
How do I grease the cork without getting into other part of the flute?
Is it possible to do something wrong when oil the flute and cause permanent damage of the flute (drop the flute is one)?
Oiling a keyless is pretty easy. It’s a good idea to oil both inside and out. The bore is most important though, because that is the surface directly contacted by moisture. Doing this will help stabilize moisture content of the wood and prevent roughing of the bore. The best way to oil the bore is to just use a piece of old t-shirt or similar, smaller than your swab cloth. Make sure it’s saturated in oil, but not dripping. Too much oil is not too great. Then put it on your cleaning rod and run it through the bore, making sure to evenly coat the bore. Swab out any excess. You want a good oiling, but not gobs of oil gooing up your flute.There are differing opinions on what type of oil to use, but almond oil is very popular.
For greasing cork, it’s best to use it sparingly. A little bit goes a long way. Others may have different techniques. Mine is to use on of the chapstick type cork greases, rub a little on and rub it into the cork evenly with my finger. Then I wipe any excess off the wood. Like oiling, you don’t want too much grease. I wouldn’t worry about getting oil on the rings or slide. You should wipe down the instrument after oiling anyway. the oil won’t soak into the silver so it’ll wipe off. To avoid getting oil on the cork, just put a few drops on the outside of the flute and wipe that in, rather than slathering it up. For the sockets and tenons, I use the same cloth as to oil the bore, just without the rod, so as to be precise about oiling. Let the oil dry in before reassembling the flute and the oiled sockets won’t affect your cork. It’s a good idea to do your oiling when the flute has dried after playing and swabbing out, and perhaps several hours or more before you plan to play it again. That prevents moisture from being trapped in between the oil and the bore, and gives a chance for the oil to set in and do its thing before more moisture is introduced. Just don’t drop it and you won’t harm the flute . Hope this helps.
Wow KC you just about covered the gamit of flute oiling questions. Now don’t come back with “Oh yea, and how often do I oil and with what king of oil?”
I’ve used a bunch of methods but have settled on a way that works well and gets the oil only where I want it and never on my fingers. I use a small pistol cleaning impliment that consists of a 2 in (5 cm) fuzzy thing . This has threads and attaches to a metal rod about 8 in long. I keep the fuzzy thing soaked (not attached to the rod) in oil and in a small plastic “test tube” attached to the cork in the end of the test tube. I keep it all in my flute case… I should take a picture as this discription probably makes no sense at all.
I haven’t had time to read the responses in this thread yet, but I’ll just offer one bit of advice, do yourself a favor and don’t over oil your flute, and do make sure you remove all excess surface oil when you’re swabbing the bore and wiping the exterior - I see instruments nearly every week that have problems due to over oiling and or not removing the excess.
. Hope this helps.