French flute restoration
Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2021 2:45 am
Hello,
Playing irish flute for some time now (a François baubet delrin that I fancy a lot), I wanted to delve a bit on some more keys ...hence I wanted to keys !
The silver one is tempting but I've tried it and well ....i'm not there yet (too much clacking ?).
Browsing on the french version of craiglist (leboncoin), I saw an old no name flute with 5 keys.
The state was really ugly : lot of gummy stuff on the wood, a crack in the barrel and probably some stuff to do on the key.
The price tag was not so much so ...I told my self : let's try it !
Taking some time here to browse through a lot of post I found a lot of information !
After some cleaning (saliva & oiling) ...then some more ...then some more I manage to see the wood again !
It is pretty nice looking.
I took of the keys (post-mounted), the screw were in dire condition but I managed to get the out with some penetration oil (putting masking tape around) and cleaned the keys.
Things are going not so bad !
Once all the wood is cleaned, I used steel wool, to have a deeper cleaning.
Here it eventually notice the maker logo "laubé" a french maker (around XIX century I think)
I then removed the pads and tried the silicone pads method (see here viewtopic.php?t=20500&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0). Right now it is curing withe keys back in place :
Then I took a look at the crack. It went from one side to the other. I decided to try to fill it with several layer of superglue (with careful taping around the edge to limit the glue on the wood). Some steel wool after, it cleans quite well.
Here is the picture of the flute right now :
https://ibb.co/N3qjmN3
But there is an issue : the slide is loose on the barrel !
I mean : the inner slide and the outer slide are stick together but the outer is not glued to the wood of the barrel.
Another way to state it : the barrel rotated freely without making the slide mode. But the barrel cannot be taken out.
In itself it isn't so dramatic, I think that I could play it like that ....but It is bothering me !
I searched though all the forum and couldn't find the same situation. I've tried penetrating oil but I coudln't do anything (in fact I have no twisting power ....just pulling and the slide may be stick since ages !).
I have a strong penetrating oil on my way to test it but ....I feel a bit helpless !
I've looked at the Mcgee : the immovable slide page (http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/immovable_slide.htm) for the standard method :
"1 firm pulling combined with a twisting action
2 a mandrel, turned to fit into the lower end of the inner slide is tapped repeatedly while holding the barrel section in hand
3 a knife is wedged into the gap between the head and barrel, working around the circumference
4 a heated mandrel is inserted into the lower end of the slide via the socket. The heat breaks the grip of the condensate and the slide comes apart easily by twisting."
1 and 3 are not applicable as I can't twist and there i no gap (I don't even know if the righ is with the head) or with the barrel.
I do not understand the number 2 : shall the dowel rest on the cork ?
For the number 4 ... I have nothing that would allow me to do that in my flat
If anyone have some opinion on this issue I would be glad :
I guess that it is the shellac between the barrel & the outer slide that got loose but that doesn't help me to make it move
The second issue (but much less) is that I would like to check the stopper condition, it seems pretty stuck and most of all I can't remove the crown (no grip at all).
If I got no other choice I'll probably try to puch every thing out with a right sized dowel (that I don't have). Ony opinion on this crown :
https://ibb.co/svhGSYm
Best regards
PS : I can put more photo if needed !
Playing irish flute for some time now (a François baubet delrin that I fancy a lot), I wanted to delve a bit on some more keys ...hence I wanted to keys !
The silver one is tempting but I've tried it and well ....i'm not there yet (too much clacking ?).
Browsing on the french version of craiglist (leboncoin), I saw an old no name flute with 5 keys.
The state was really ugly : lot of gummy stuff on the wood, a crack in the barrel and probably some stuff to do on the key.
The price tag was not so much so ...I told my self : let's try it !
Taking some time here to browse through a lot of post I found a lot of information !
After some cleaning (saliva & oiling) ...then some more ...then some more I manage to see the wood again !
It is pretty nice looking.
I took of the keys (post-mounted), the screw were in dire condition but I managed to get the out with some penetration oil (putting masking tape around) and cleaned the keys.
Things are going not so bad !
Once all the wood is cleaned, I used steel wool, to have a deeper cleaning.
Here it eventually notice the maker logo "laubé" a french maker (around XIX century I think)
I then removed the pads and tried the silicone pads method (see here viewtopic.php?t=20500&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0). Right now it is curing withe keys back in place :
Then I took a look at the crack. It went from one side to the other. I decided to try to fill it with several layer of superglue (with careful taping around the edge to limit the glue on the wood). Some steel wool after, it cleans quite well.
Here is the picture of the flute right now :
https://ibb.co/N3qjmN3
But there is an issue : the slide is loose on the barrel !
I mean : the inner slide and the outer slide are stick together but the outer is not glued to the wood of the barrel.
Another way to state it : the barrel rotated freely without making the slide mode. But the barrel cannot be taken out.
In itself it isn't so dramatic, I think that I could play it like that ....but It is bothering me !
I searched though all the forum and couldn't find the same situation. I've tried penetrating oil but I coudln't do anything (in fact I have no twisting power ....just pulling and the slide may be stick since ages !).
I have a strong penetrating oil on my way to test it but ....I feel a bit helpless !
I've looked at the Mcgee : the immovable slide page (http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/immovable_slide.htm) for the standard method :
"1 firm pulling combined with a twisting action
2 a mandrel, turned to fit into the lower end of the inner slide is tapped repeatedly while holding the barrel section in hand
3 a knife is wedged into the gap between the head and barrel, working around the circumference
4 a heated mandrel is inserted into the lower end of the slide via the socket. The heat breaks the grip of the condensate and the slide comes apart easily by twisting."
1 and 3 are not applicable as I can't twist and there i no gap (I don't even know if the righ is with the head) or with the barrel.
I do not understand the number 2 : shall the dowel rest on the cork ?
For the number 4 ... I have nothing that would allow me to do that in my flat
If anyone have some opinion on this issue I would be glad :
I guess that it is the shellac between the barrel & the outer slide that got loose but that doesn't help me to make it move
The second issue (but much less) is that I would like to check the stopper condition, it seems pretty stuck and most of all I can't remove the crown (no grip at all).
If I got no other choice I'll probably try to puch every thing out with a right sized dowel (that I don't have). Ony opinion on this crown :
https://ibb.co/svhGSYm
Best regards
PS : I can put more photo if needed !