Delrin and tuning slides.

[Tom O'Farrell]

Does anybody think that a polymer flute (say delrin) is less likely to need a tuning slide than a wood flute?

[Screeeech!!!]

I think they're both as likely to encounter other instruments that aren't easily tunable.

[Doug_Tipple]

It is hard for me to see much reason why a polymer flute would be less likely to need a tuning slide than would a wooden flute. I think that there needs to be some adjustment at the joint between the head and the flute body. Without a separte tuning slide, designing this joint to allow greater rather than less adjustment seems desirable. However, this may be easier to do for a simple joint on a tough material like delrin, because of its relative strength with respect to wood. In other words, because of delrin's strength, it is possible to construct a simple joint that is long enough that, so that another tuning slide is not needed. The long tenon is the tuning slide. I think that this is also true for PVC, another polymer.

[jim stone]

In short, the tenon on Doug's all PVC flutes works fine
as a tuning slide, with ample room to go sharp or flat.

[Doug_Tipple]

When I first started making 2-piece flutes from pvc pipe, I asked Ralph Sweet for advice. When I told him that I wanted to bore a socket in the flute body with a depth of two inches (the tenon is slightly less than two inches in length), he was shocked at the depth that I wanted, because on the wooden flutes that he makes, he never bores this deeply, if I am not mistaken. I don't think that you could get by with this on wooden flutes, hence the need for a separate tuning slide. I usually call the long tenon a tuning tenon rather than a tuning slide, just to keep things straight. However, it should be noted that the simple tenon/socket joint on most 2-piece wooden flutes without a separate tuning slide (Casey Burns folk flute, for example) allows adequate adjustment for most situations.

[jim stone]

I like slides. You can go flat with corked or threaded
tenons, but it's harder to go sharp. The makers
say you can but I'm less than persuaded. A lot
of these all wood jobbies are in tune with
the tenon all the way in, IMO.

If everybody is tuned together and you aren't
in a situation where there's changing temperature,
and stringed instruments, no problem.
But if you're performing with stringed instruments
in strange places, or outdoors, slides.

[peeplj]

I like slides as well.

Now what you don't particularly have to have on a polymer flute is a corked or wrapped tenon. Polymer on polymer works quite well.

The M&E's are built like that, and the Seery has wrapped tenon. Since the tenon will never expand or shrink on a polymer instrument, the only advantage I can see to thread or cork is to add a degree of "authenticity" when compared to wooden flutes.

--James

[Doug_Tipple]

By way of comparison, silver flutes do not have tuning slides. All the tuning that you will ever need to do is accomplished by a tuning tenon, which is an extension of the headjoint, just like on polymer flutes. The only reason that wooden flutes have tuning slides is because the material will not allow a longer tuning tenon.

[Tom O'Farrell]

On my Burns folk flute the headjoint cracked at the tenon end, a massive crack, I really cannot play it at all. But anyway I would not want to play one of these with the tenon pulled out even a tiny bit for fear of the tenon end of the headjoint being too thin and weak and cracking up while playing, from twisting motion and general mechanical stresses put on it by the player. He should put a ring here I think.
Of course Jim Stone is right, it's the other instruments that you need to tune to not just A=440.

[peeplj]

By way of comparison, silver flutes do not have tuning slides. All the tuning that you will ever need to do is accomplished by a tuning tenon, which is an extension of the headjoint, just like on polymer flutes. The only reason that wooden flutes have tuning slides is because the material will not allow a longer tuning tenon.

Apologies in advance,

You are correct that the Boehm system flute has a tenon which acts as a tuning slide.

In fact, however, it is actually a real tuning slide, with several inches of leeway.

It is a true tuning slide because the metal is thin, so it doesn't interrupt the bore profile when extended the way a wooden tenon, which is much thicker, does.

I know this is being pretty picky, so that's why this note includes my apologies.

--James