My M&E snapped

[BillG]

I find it hard to believe but my M&E fell off the dresser and snapped in two. The main section snapped from the bottom section with the tenon inside of the bottom portion. First, yowee-zounds. Never thought it could happen.

Second: how do I fix it? Gorilla Glue, perhaps? Hate to send it back to Europe.

[Coffee]

Something similar happened to my first M&E back on 2003 or so, except mine broke in a fight. (Please don't ask for details as none will be given. Let's just say it's not an escrima stick.) I used super glue to put it back together, but that eventually wears off, for me it tended to wear off in the middle of performances.

Your best bet is to ask Michael really.

[peeplj]

Oh no!!!!

For a proper repair, I'd think that one would need to go back to Michael.

Also, I bet if you contact him, you'll find out he'll be very interested in seeing the point where the flute broke up close.

I've never heard of someone actually breaking one of the M&E flutes before.

--James

P.S. Cofaidh, I didn't see your post before I hit submit. I would think you might avoid frustration as well by sending your flute for repair, though I do understand the fix-it-yourself perspective.

[BillG]

James - thanx for your comments. I just sent off an email to Mike in Ireland. I'll keep you posted here when he replys. I have a few other flutes but none that "hang out" all day waiting for a few minutes here and there. The Healy is the closest thing to "hang around" as it has silver tenons. But I'm still not sure it should remain together for days on end. I'll have to ask Skip about that.

[Terry McGee]

Hmmm, surprised me too. Are these flutes made of delrin or some harder plastic?

I wouldn't expect delrin to break - has anyone achieved that? Or achieved any other major destruction of a delrin flute?

One of the inconvenient truths of modern life is that, although plastics are often tougher than natural materials, once broken, they are harder to fix. I'm sure the masters of Eastern religion would find something aposite to say about that.

Terry

[Jayhawk]

Terry,

M&E's are made of a food grade PVC - machined like delrin from rod stock. I've dropped a delrin seery and had it hit a concrete step twice, and there was no damage from that at all.

Eric

[Jon C.]

Hmmm, surprised me too. Are these flutes made of delrin or some harder plastic?

I wouldn't expect delrin to break - has anyone achieved that? Or achieved any other major destruction of a delrin flute?

One of the inconvenient truths of modern life is that, although plastics are often tougher than natural materials, once broken, they are harder to fix. I'm sure the masters of Eastern religion would find something aposite to say about that.

Terry

Hi Terry,
M&E are made of PVC. The material will break down with UV exposure and age. It becomes brittle, and may shatter if struck or put under pressure.
I don't know the shelf life of Delrin, but I don't think it becomes brittle as PVC does.

[BillG]

Hi Terry,
M&E are made of PVC. The material will break down with UV exposure and age. It becomes brittle, and may shatter if struck or put under pressure.
I don't know the shelf life of Delrin, but I don't think it becomes brittle as PVC does.

Jon - Interesting. This one did not shatter but simply snapped. I'd take a digital pic but I don't have a web site to post it from.

[demon_piper]

Sounds like my Seery, the thing is only a couple of weeks old, and I've been kicking it around like crazy. I love it! I can leave it fully assembled soaked all day and night, I can drop it, toss it in the grass at the cottage if need be.

Had I not heard, played and subsequently ordered an Olwell Blackwood Pratten, I might well have just played this plastic thing forever.

Not to mention the volume!

[hans]

Normal pvc can be welded with pvc glue.
The stuff plumbers use to weld pipes together.
One applies a little to the surfaces,
then waits till they are soft (a few seconds),
and presses the parts together.
Surplus gets wiped away straight away.
Curing to full strength takes 24 hours.

How much structural strength you get by welding the
tenon piece to the body I don't know.
Not much I guess, since the surface contact area is so small
Nor do I know if the flute's pvc is any different in its suitability
for pvc welding than plumbing pipes.

You would need to sand the welded joint inside the tube later,
to make it smooth and take away any material pressed
towards the centre of the tube.

If you are prepared to sacrifice looks in order to get
structural strength, you could weld another piece of pvc
onto the outside, and glue-weld both flute parts
permanently together, as a last resort,
rather than throwing the flute away.

No guarantees if any of this may indeed work.
Best listen to Michael.

[fearfaoin]

I'd take a digital pic but I don't have a web site to post it from.

http://tinypic.com will host your picture for free. It even
gives you the [img] code to paste onto boards like C&F.

Also, if you have a Yahoo account (for email or groups or
anything) then you automatically have a Flickr account.

[BillG]

See if this works:

<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i14.tinypic.com/4kk2r0n.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

[BillG]

I'd take a digital pic but I don't have a web site to post it from.

http://tinypic.com will host your picture for free. It even
gives you the [img] code to paste onto boards like C&F.

Fearfaoin - Thanx a heap!. Wow! Was that easy.

[withak]

See if this works:

<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i14.tinypic.com/4kk2r0n.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

You have to use the version for forums; the code you used is for regular web sites.

Code: Select all

[img]http://i14.tinypic.com/4kk2r0n.jpg[/img]

[sbhikes]

Maybe you can fix this with a still-smaller tube on the inside of both broken halves? Or would that harm the sound? If so, then with a larger tube around the outside of each broken half.