Hello there,
on my mission to rehabilitate aged keyed cheap flutes, I have a candidate here for the weekend to test-drive before deciding whether to have it. It’s great in every way but has one possibly fatal flaw - the low D is sharp, really sharp, half a semitone easily. The pads and keys are all fine so it’s not that, it seems to be just the way it’s made. I can lip it down to pitch with a huge effort. May I canvas opinion? Is it a dud? Is there a fix? Have tried cork adjustment, no improvement.
It’s an old 8 key ebonite Hawkes-style nameless. Everything else about it is pretty nice. A is even 440. I’d be really grateful for any light you might be able to cast…
many thanks
F
I corrected an oversharp D on a whistle once by lengthening it a few mm with rubber grommets from the hardware store. I glued them together to get the length I wanted and then shaved them to match the inner and outer diameter. It’s a blackwood whistle so it’s undetectable to all but the maker perhaps 
I don’t see why the same couldn’t be done to a flute, perhaps with a decorative ring on the end the serves the same purpose. I don’t think a few millimeters would affect the overall physics terribly bad. But as Anvil says, I am not an expert!
Since it’s an 8-key, it’s possible the pad/plug is sitting too far away from the C# hole or both C and C# holes. Fixing this for pads is really easy, just use thicker pads. I have no idea how it would be done for plugs.
to flatten the note maybe try to pull out the foot joint alittle bit to lengthen the bore for the ‘d’ hole (located under the ‘c#key’) .
If you have the slide pulled out a long way to get A to play at 440 it might be easier to play in tune with itself at a higher pitch than A 440…that is if it’s a high pitch flute.
Or maybe the footjoint is not original…As in, somebody stuck a footjoint on it which is too short…
In that case 50 cents flat would be a lot to bring up to tune. I’d be thinking of making up a longer section to graft onto the socket end of the foot to make it longer or extending the lower joint instead to do the same - though it would probably be better to just make up a new foot but that assumes a reamer.
Garry
Thank you very much for these suggestions - I shall try them all and report back! In my ignorance I was especially surprised to learn that the heights of the pads in the foot keys affect the tuning - I have much to learn…again, thanks…
F
Well I did say I had much to learn… after trying all your suggestions I couldn’t solve it. It’s the headjoint that is a modern replacement and I think what someone did was make a headjoint to play a low-pitched old flute in modern tuning. If so, it works really well except for that last D which won’t go in tune nohow. Except at a lower pitch with the slide out. So I’ve passed it up. Thanks very much indeed again for your suggestions - I learnt a lot about pitches, tone holes and lipping this weekend! I seem more in command of the niceties of intonation on my regular flute squeeze now so it wasn’t a wasted experience.
best
FF
The flute is probably a Eb ont a D flute. So don’t fight it, just play it in Eb… 
Oh Jon you have puzzled me now. The flute played best at a pitch below modern concert pitch, I assumed it was an old low pitch flute with a modern head on. Ah well I decided to give it a miss! As Homer said, “It’s too hard son, give up.” 