Amateur Maker - Progress?

[TKing]

Right! I believe I had read somewhere that some current makers have used that technique as well, jacketing the extension. I'm eager to give the electroplating a try as it would certainly be a much simpler process. But you're right, a 20mm ish long piece of nickel-silver tube wouldn't be very expensive at all. Should the durability of the plating not prove suitable, I'll have to consider grabbing a length of suitably sized tube of nickel silver. Thank as always!

[TKing]

Yes, this is quite exciting. I have a small CNC router that I used for several years to make items out of acrylic sheet and would occasionally mill some wood parts, but that always led me to want to get a lathe. This puts fuel on the fire

Your work thus far has been fantastic looking. Thanks for all the updates and keep us going by sharing how you grow and go with it all.

Eric T

Thank you very much Eric, I plan to keep updating periodically, glad to hear some folks are interested!

Terry wasn't lying about the addiction of course, and that extends to tooling. I do all of this on a fairly basic wood lathe, so of course I am looking at all the used metal lathes fairly local to me, and don't you know that area keeps expanding! I have kept myself in check so far...so far!

[TKing]

Little bit of an update, done some work recently with Mopane and boxwood. Been fooling around with fully lined heads and am pretty partial to it if I’m honest. Also made one for a local player with silver rings on request and I’m super happy with how it turned out.

Turns out that the design I came to is similar in many respects to the R&R models from the late 1890s.

Some photos:

https://imgur.com/a/vhh66iz

[Jayhawk]

Beautiful!

[Terry McGee]

Yeah, looks good, Tking. Keep in mind that a fully lined head is at risk of cracking if brought to a place with substantially lower humidity than where it was assembled. EG: Alaska or New Mexico (unless you happen to be making them in Alaska or New Mexico!) *

Unless you can think of a way to buffer the wood against the metal. As I've done at https://www.mcgee-flutes.com/fluteslide.html . But that's with a partial slide. I can't immediately see a way of doing it with a full length metal liner. But there might be a way...

*Heh heh. I can imagine if you lived in Alaska or New Mexico and did fully lined slides, you'd get a lot of complaints from customers complaining that their tuning slides keep coming loose!

I have one 19th century flute in my collection, a boxwood flute by Bilton, where the slide is a bit loose, and rotates whenever I try to tune it. Very hard to play a flute when the embouchure hole is filled with tuning slide! The head has a slight crack, but it doesn't extend to the ends. So I don't know what went wrong. Perhaps he was trying to make sure the wood of the head wasn't too tight on the slide and overdid the clearance? Lovely flute though. Dates to somewhere between 1826 and 1856.

[TKing]

Thanks Jayhawk!

I’ve seen your metal slide Terry, and it’s definitely an elegant solution. I presume you use a small amount of adhesive to hold things together? Or does friction simply do its part?

In my case I’ve done a number of things to help combat future cracking (not much concern for that here in the Pacific Northwest, except maybe from overzealous home heating systems). Time will tell if they are enough!

First is that the head is reamed to a snug fit initially but I then remove a small amount of material at either end of the piece so that the bore has a waist around the embouchure hole.

Even at the inch or so on either side of the hole, on the sides of the head (3 and 9 o clock from the embouchure hole) I also remove a small amount of material. I then use an adhesive with a bit of flexibility when cured. In this way I try to limit the direct contact with the wood in favor of more of a friction fit with the adhesive acting to hold it in place along most of the head as opposed to actually mechanically fastening the liner except around the embochure to avoid that exact scenario you’ve described re: the boxwood flute! Of course, the amount of material I’m talking about is relatively small. When inserted fully the liner tube has only a small amount of slop. But if inserted only partially from either end you would feel it. I have to be careful about alignment of course, so I do a final pass for the finished profile after the glue has cured.

As another matter, that aged boxwood is absolutely stunning.

[Terry McGee]

I’ve seen your metal slide Terry, and it’s definitely an elegant solution. I presume you use a small amount of adhesive to hold things together? Or does friction simply do its part?

Just friction and cork compression - I've made cutters for the two ends that just allow for the silver of the slide plus the cork wrap when pressed in. The fit is tight enough so it shouldn't come loose even if the slide is allowed to get a bit sticky. But not so tight that it risks the wood cracking in a dry season.

In my case I’ve done a number of things to help combat future cracking (not much concern for that here in the Pacific Northwest, except maybe from overzealous home heating systems). Time will tell if they are enough!

First is that the head is reamed to a snug fit initially but I then remove a small amount of material at either end of the piece so that the bore has a waist around the embouchure hole.

Even at the inch or so on either side of the hole, on the sides of the head (3 and 9 o clock from the embouchure hole) I also remove a small amount of material. I then use an adhesive with a bit of flexibility when cured. In this way I try to limit the direct contact with the wood in favor of more of a friction fit with the adhesive acting to hold it in place along most of the head as opposed to actually mechanically fastening the liner except around the embochure to avoid that exact scenario you’ve described re: the boxwood flute! Of course, the amount of material I’m talking about is relatively small. When inserted fully the liner tube has only a small amount of slop. But if inserted only partially from either end you would feel it. I have to be careful about alignment of course, so I do a final pass for the finished profile after the glue has cured.

Sounds like a good approach, only time will tell if it's enough! I do a similar thing when fixing head and barrel cracks in period flutes. I ream/sand the repaired bore until the slide is a loose fit. Then use what I judge is the minimum glue needed to secure the slide in place and ensure airtightness. In the case of the heads, I introduce the glue in via the embouchure hole, twisting and sliding the slide around to get a ring of glue around the hole, which is the only area that needs to be airtight. So far, so good!

As another matter, that aged boxwood is absolutely stunning.

It is lovely isn't it. You can see why nobody ever throws a flute out!

Well, with at least one notable exception, the 1851 Clinton flute that Gregory Brown of Sidney, British Columbia pulled from a rubbish bin, and kindly made available for our Clinton study:



I should spend more time rooting through rubbish bins!

[jefff]

Oooh that mopane shorty looks really beautiful! Are you getting a similar sound and playing feeling out of them, or are there some big differences? This is a fun process to watch, thanks for posting!

[TKing]

Oooh that mopane shorty looks really beautiful! Are you getting a similar sound and playing feeling out of them, or are there some big differences? This is a fun process to watch, thanks for posting!

I love it. It was my first time working with Mopane and I’m in love. I still prefer Blackwood in almost all respects, but Mopane is an excellent wood to work with, turns wonderfully, and looks gorgeous.

There is a slight difference I think. I definitely feel that on the low end it’s easier to sound that hard tone with a longer foot. However I find it easier to keep myself in tune, interestingly enough, on the integrated foot flute. Perhaps that has something to do with eliminating all that extra material which lends itself toward a flat foot. I have mostly eliminated the problem of a flat foot from the lower end on the 5 piece, but it does require the player to ensure they have a focused stream of air and a small bit of extra force behind the breath to keep the low D in tune.

Just friction and cork compression - I've made cutters for the two ends that just allow for the silver of the slide plus the cork wrap when pressed in. The fit is tight enough so it shouldn't come loose even if the slide is allowed to get a bit sticky. But not so tight that it risks the wood cracking in a dry season.

Very interesting and very useful should anything happen to it down the road!

It is lovely isn't it. You can see why nobody ever throws a flute out!
Well, with at least one notable exception, the 1851 Clinton flute that Gregory Brown of Sidney, British Columbia pulled from a rubbish bin, and kindly made available for our Clinton study:
I should spend more time rooting through rubbish bins!

A relative neighbour of mine it seems, on the same peninsula. Im glad it found a proper home!

[Tradman]

I'm so glad that I poked my head in here and saw your very recent update. That is stellar looking work. The draw to purchase a lathe is becoming stronger...