Irish Flute Testing Demonstration

[Casey Burns]

Here is a demonstration of the most important part of Irish Flute making: testing the flute to make sure that the damn thing works or not. The ones that work are sent out to waiting customers, some who have waited patiently for months and sometimes for years for their instruments. The ones that do not work are............well, watch the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFQhO3LWtQk

Casey

Maker of the Hottest Flutes on the Planet

[Denny]

takes a lot of 'em this time of year

[Doug_Tipple]

Wasn't that an Olwell flute that got shoved into the stove along with the Murray and McGee flutes that I saw? Casey, is that why you call your flutes Casey Burns Flutes, because they have to pass the burn test before you send them out?

[Aanvil]

Casey burns flutes.

Damnit all Doug!

The clues have been right in front of us the entire time.

Casey is like some sort of evil Bond villain!

[Casey Burns]

I like to think of myself as the Julian Assange of the Irish Flute world. Remember - anyone dealing with woodwinds, especially bagpipes, is dealing with leaks.

For the truly horrified: the flute parts were all real, and were all from my workshop. I generate, along with the flutes I send out, a fair bit of flutes that are of this "Firewood" quality. Most of them end up in my wood stove at home (I was borrowing a friend's with its pretty glass front for this demonstration). In every batch of 10-20 flutes there are usually 2 or 3 flute's worth of wood that rejects out, especially in black wood. One sometimes can't see defects in the wood until the flute has been oiled.

Nothing is sacred, especially these flute parts. And catharsis is healthy. Instrument makers occasionally get together for an "Instrument Bash". This not only helps to relieve stress, but it makes room in the workshop. And lowers the heating bills. Word is circulating that such an event will be happening soon somewhere nearby amongst the luthiers and I hope they remember to invite me.

Terry, Doug and other makers - how about we get together to do something like this in Marseilles, Casablanca or Naples? We could call this gathering the "Mediterranean Flute Fry".

Casey

[pflipp]

It makes the more naieve me wonder why Casey burns both sections when probably only one part is the culprit... (The less naieve me says the film is a dramatization, but you never know, maybe we'll learn something here...)

It's also no good news for my project as I had planned to make only ONE flute... I do have some spare material, but not THAT much...!

[Casey Burns]

No, they were all bad. Including the ones already in the fire.

[Casey Burns]

Here are a few stills from the Flute Fry photoshoot for your enjoyment......

Flutes at the Medium Rare stage:


Flutes at the Well Done stage. Note the tone holes:


Bon appetit!
Casey

[LorenzoFlute]

But there's some nice wood in there

[Cathy Wilde]

Burn, Casey, Burns!

That was wonderful. I can feel that holiday glow from here. Thanks, Casey, and season's (seasoned?) best to you and your family!

[eilam]

looks like more boxwood then blackwood !?
do you find boxwood gives more of a creamy softer buttery fire?
blackwood more of a crisp, dark fire?
what happens when you burn snakewood, does it burn just like chicken?

[Casey Burns]

All of these woods burn wonderfully. Especially after they've been oiled. The tubular shape means that there are many little flues in the fire and we actually had to damp the stove way down before it got way too hot in there.

In Africa, Mopane is used as a firewood regularly. It "burns like coal" according to many. Google "mopane firewood" and you come up with many links. For instance:
http://www.afripics.com/home/products/p ... ctID=37229

When blackwood burns, the resin starts boiling out of the wood furiously.

I keep a big burlap bag in my workshop for end cuts, squares with too many checks and other scraps, and bring this into the house to burn in the woodstove or give it away to friends short on firewood late in winter heating season. Its really amazing firewood.

Casey

[benwalker]

is there no way of redeeming any of the sub standard flutes ? Seems such a sad thing to burn even a sub standard flute. Send them to me and perhaps i could muck around with them or something. If all else fails. . I will burn em for you : )

[Casey Burns]

Hi Ben,

I am sure these parts could be redeemed into working flutes but I don't have the time nor the incentive, thanks to my waiting list. Plus I don't want to send these basket cases out into the world with my name on them. I have a reputation to uphold after all! Thus into the wood stove with these!

I do send out factory seconds occasionally. Even with no guarantees, a few people have asked me to do modifications, corrections, etc. on them as if they purchased one of my fully warrantied instruments. Thus even the factory seconds ones I send out occasionally have to be bomb proof. Thus if the wood has any cracks or other fatal flaws, its into the woods stove.

The pieces in the wood stove video were too far gone for even factory seconds. The only sadness, perhaps, stems from the hours of my life that I have spent machining this firewood. But that is a normal thing one has to accept when working wood and its not sad. Thus why not use them for props for some spectacular theater? Most everyone is getting a big laugh out of this - and this is well worth the sacrifice! And people remember that I am out here.

Check out my "adjusting flute tuning" video on my YouTube channel. Lots of laughs on that one as well. And orders for at least 4 flutes from people who first learned of me through that video!

(By the way, more is planned.......)

Casey Burns

Maker of the Hottest Flutes on the Planet

[mutepointe]

If you ever get it in your mind to recycle rather than burn these flutes, I'm sure we could come up with 100 things to do with the flutes. This is your business though, not ours.