a few questions

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:28 pm

johnkerr wrote:
bradhurley wrote:Since coming to Chiff and Fipple I've learned some of the most amazing terminology: Labium ramps. Flute solids. What's next?
Gosh, Brad, I thought you'd seen it all. After all, aren't you the one who hosts "Ten Disgusting Things Irish Traditional Flute Players Do" on your website? ( http://www.firescribble.net/flute/disgusting.html )

Yes, but that refers to potato solids, not flute solids! I'm having a hard time getting my head round that concept.

johnkerr · Post by **johnkerr** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 12:36 pm

bradhurley wrote:Yes, but that refers to potato solids, not flute solids! I'm having a hard time getting my head round that concept.

Can't understand why. When's the last time you saw a (non-Pakistani) flute that wasn't solid?

Chiffed · Post by **Chiffed** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 3:31 pm

johnkerr wrote:
bradhurley wrote:Yes, but that refers to potato solids, not flute solids! I'm having a hard time getting my head round that concept.
Can't understand why. When's the last time you saw a (non-Pakistani) flute that wasn't solid?

I was going to order a keyed Olwell, but, because of finances, I'm just getting the holes. Do they need to be humidified?

The Tea Tree Oil trick is pretty good. I throw a few drops on the chunk of terra-cotta that humidifies my flute box (quite large and not totally sealed). I haven't had a mold bloom yet, even though some of the old flutes surely have spores.

johnkerr · Post by **johnkerr** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:38 am

Chiffed wrote: I was going to order a keyed Olwell, but, because of finances, I'm just getting the holes. Do they need to be humidified?

Hard to say. The waiting list for Olwell holes is so long that no one has actually accepted delivery of any as of yet. If you get yours first, please report back.

Chiffed wrote:The Tea Tree Oil trick is pretty good. I throw a few drops on the chunk of terra-cotta that humidifies my flute box (quite large and not totally sealed). I haven't had a mold bloom yet, even though some of the old flutes surely have spores.

Yes, seeing as how Tea Tree Oil actually comes from trees I don't have any concerns using it on a flute that also came from a tree. I guess the only thing to watch out for when using it is to not get it on the embouchure hole where you might end up ingesting some of it - although even then I'm sure if there are any adverse effects they wouldn't be all that bad. Probably no worse than accidently ingesting woodwind bore (mineral) oil, anyway, and AFAIK generations of kid clarinet players have survived that successfully.

dhamilingu · Post by **dhamilingu** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:49 am

Hi all,

Thanks for all of the replies on the humidity issue. I think the idea of as large-ish container, with some source of humidity inside, not tightly sealed all of the time, should work.

May I treat this as a "bump" concerning the other questions? How to properly use the plumber's grease on tenon thread, and any personal experiences with finger spread on a small-holed Seery?

Many thanks,

Pete

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:32 am

Pete, I'm personally not a fan of that plumber's grease, but that's just me. Threads are just fine without any of the gunky crap on them, btw.

A question for you Pete, where'd the artwork in your avatar come from - who is the artist? I dig the extreme foreshortened perspective.

Loren

P.S. I haven't run across a small holed Seery, so I can't help you on that one, sorry.

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:41 am

Loren wrote:Pete, I'm personally not a fan of that plumber's grease, but that's just me. Threads are just fine without any of the gunky crap on them, btw.

I'm with Loren. The only thing I put on my threads is a bit of beeswax on the end to keep it stuck down. I just take a pure beeswax candle (or a small piece thereof) and rub it a few times on the end of the thread. Then a few turns in the socket will spread out the wax and keep the end from popping up. And it goes without saying that you should twist on and twist off your joints in the same direction. I always go counterclockwise (if you were looking at the flute endwise, from the endcap of the headjoint).

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 8:26 am

Yup, I agree with Brad, and almost suggested a bit of beeswax too.

You know, it's funny; I don't understand why more makers don't tie off the ends of their thread lapped tenons, so that they don't unravel. I mean I've seen a number of "brand new" instruments with thread lapped tenons where the ends of the threads were just flapping around not properly tied off, what gives

Loren

dhamilingu · Post by **dhamilingu** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 8:37 am

Hi Loren,

I'll check at home for the artist's name. It's from a framed print that we have which I purchased in Atlanta, part of a whole series of jazz musicians playing different instruments. The funny thing is, I purchased the print before I became interested in the flute!

P.

Craig Stuntz · Post by **Craig Stuntz** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 9:51 am

Casey Burns recommends the wax used in toilet rings (the big yellow rings which go in between the toilet and the floor) for threads. It's stickier and cheaper than beeswax.

-Craig

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:10 am

Craig Stuntz wrote:Casey Burns recommends the wax used in toilet rings (the big yellow rings which go in between the toilet and the floor) for threads. It's stickier and cheaper than beeswax.

I'm not sure you'd want anything very sticky, and price isn't an issue given the quantities involved. I have a thumbnail-sized piece of beeswax that I use for this purpose, and I've been using it for about 10 years now. Waxing the end of the thread isn't something you need to do regularly...I only do it when I'm adding more thread to tighten the joint, which is maybe once or twice a year at most.

johnkerr · Post by **johnkerr** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:20 am

Craig Stuntz wrote:Casey Burns recommends the wax used in toilet rings (the big yellow rings which go in between the toilet and the floor) for threads. It's stickier and cheaper than beeswax.

Yes, but aren't flutes disgusting enough already (see my reference to Brad's site upthread)? Is there really a need to pile it on?

My personal experience with threads vs corks (15 years of corked Olwell ownership, two years of threaded Grinter ownership) is that threads are more of a maintenance headache. My Grinter arrived with the threads crisply intact (tied off or not, I don't know), but almost immediately one of the threads began to unravel (specifically, a loop of thread came loose rather than an end) and I was never able to get it back on tight. So I always had this loop of thread hanging off, which fortunately never got pulled to the point where it started coming off further. Contrast this with the behavior of the corked tenons on the Olwell, to which I've occasionally had to apply a bit of cork grease but otherwise no other maintenance or care has been needed. (BTW, I did occasionally apply a bit of cork grease to the Grinter threads, mainly just to seal the joint up a bit more, not because I needed lubrication in order to get the flute assembled.) I imagine that if I'd kept the Grinter that loose loop would have come unraveled further, and I would have needed to rethread the tenon. But more likely at that point I would have just pulled the threads entirely and installed cork.

Bridges-PdP · Post by **Bridges-PdP** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:25 am

I'm not a flute guy...yet. I am more of a science guy. An easy way to control mold in a container is to place a piece of paradichlorobenzene in the container. It's what mothballs and toilet 'puck' deodorizers are made from. Approximately 5 grams per cubic foot of space is enough. I'm thinking a single mothball might do it depending on the size of your container.

Don't eat it and don't use it as a general deodorizer in your home. It will keep mold at bay as well as mites, moths and many other types of bugs.

bradhurley · Post by **bradhurley** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:44 am

Bridges-PdP wrote: It will keep mold at bay as well as mites, moths and many other types of bugs.

It will also unfortunately make your flute smell like mothballs! I'm sure it'll keep the mold at bay, but that smell is too high a price to pay as far as I'm concerned. A walk down my street at this time of year brings strong whiffs of that odor as the elderly ladies around here bring their furs and woolens out of storage for the winter...it's overpowering. No way do I want my flute to smell like that!

Craig Stuntz · Post by **Craig Stuntz** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:59 am

johnkerr wrote:Yes, but aren't flutes disgusting enough already (see my reference to Brad's site upthread)?

No, I don't think so. There is still progress to be made in this important area of research. I, for one, won't be satisfied until we've overtaken the, um, the...

Now there's got to be another instrument more disgusting....

The, um, well...

Never mind. We may have this one sealed.