boxwood and warping

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 5:32 am

Everyone knows that boxwood *can* warp, but there are no absolute numbers. I'd be interested in how many people have boxwood flutes and which percentage of them is warped.

Thanks in advance for voting

jemtheflute · Post by **jemtheflute** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 5:44 am

I have in my possession two early C19th English 1-key boxwood flutes, probably made in the 1820s, one I intend to keep for personal use, the other maybe move on in due course when I manage to get a couple of replacement ferrules for it. Neither is significantly warped, either longitudinally ("banana-wise") nor ovalled - I'm not saying there's no ovalling of the bore, but it isn't readily apparent visually and the joints can be fully rotated.

Terry McGee · Post by **Terry McGee** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 5:48 am

Heh heh ....

Terry

MarcusR · Post by **MarcusR** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:06 am

Terry McGee wrote:Heh heh ....

Terry

Ahh!
Is that your new ergonomic design to relieve tension of the right sholder Terry?

/MarcusR

chas · Post by **chas** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:13 am

I have or have had around 10 boxwood flutes from brand-new to over 200 years old. One of them goes oval in one joint if it gets too dry. Two have cracked. I think boxwood gets a bad rap.

sbfluter · Post by **sbfluter** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:15 am

Mine probably is not more than a few years old. I'd think that warping would take longer than that. It does not seem to me to have any warping. It's one piece in the section where your fingers go, so it's got a nice long section for warping to happen if it ever does. We'll see.

Thing is, I have another flute with a big crack in it. I think it has a nice tone anyway. Who knows, maybe some of its nice tone comes from the crack?

A guy I met has a Copeland low whistle that he dropped. Bent the mouthpiece. The damage actually improved it so he never sent it back for repair.

I have a video with a guy playing a whistle. The whistle has quite a patina and even has scotch tape over one of the holes. I've never heard such a lovely whistle.

I don't feel much concern for warping. I don't think it will matter if it ever happens.

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:26 am

I have one banana, though nothing like Terry's -- mine's just warped in the head (like its owner!) -- and one with a funky foot tenon/socket that goes oval when damp. Both flutes play wonderfully though, so oh well.

Hey, Terry: Why, or how, do you imagine the whole flute in your picture curved like that? Because it was from the same stick and there was some ingrained genetic response to moisture changes, or because it was left assembled, or ... ?

What I'm fascinated about is 1) how the joints still fit together on your example (leading me to think its tenons and sockets warped in line with everything else), and 2) how the barrel and tuning slide fit SEEM unaffected in mine, even though the whole head is curved right to the top of the barrel.

It seems things should get either impossible to assemble, or the flutes should be really leaky, or ... :?

(my one with the funny foot is hard to take apart in high humidity; I grease the heck out of that joint whenever I play it. Incidentally, it seems to have a different grain appearance and have taken the stain a little differently than the rest of the wood)

I've heard Sam Murray has said boxwood is the wood that's hardest to convince it's not still a tree (:lol:), and someone at Patrick Olwell's shop told me one of the makers of yore said if you want a great hygrometer, use boxwood.

So this would lead me to think others far more experienced than I have seen a trend. HOWEVER, the sound is so great and the flutes are so light, it's a trade-off, I guess -- the risk of possible funny looks vs. the highly likely joy of a lovely sound.

Casey Burns · Post by **Casey Burns** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:26 am

Most woods warp to some degree. Even blackwood. The worst I saw was in a flute made with Lignum Vitae, which went about 20% out of round. Generally I see more bending than going out of round with boxwood and I observe that this warping doesn't affect the sound negatively - if anything, the opposite.

Some makers such as myself predict how the wood will move and preemptively select and treat the wood to minimise this. Using straight pieces helps, especially for longer pieces. Much of the boxwood available is apparently from curved logs that grew on unstable hillsides. The curvature develops as the tree tries to grow upright and there are stresses relieved when wood is removed. These pieces can still be useful for things like short footjoints and endcaps where warping would be hardly noticeable.

Rod Cameron devised a simple technique of microwaving and then boiling the partially turned wood to eliminate most or all of the movement in service. Its similar in concept to sizing fabric. I use a variant of his technique.

Casey

monkey587 · Post by **monkey587** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:31 am

I recently acquired an old anonymous F flute, probably German, which I'm told is made from boxwood stained with tea. It's the one I'm playing in my avatar over there <---

It IS a bit of a banana, but plays quite well, sounds great, and can easily be disassembled and reassembled as necessary.

Edit: I've been keeping it humidified in a ziplok bag, and it is noticeably less warped now than it was when I first got it...

groxburgh · Post by **groxburgh** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:39 pm

I have a 27 year old baroque flute in boxwood which has developed a slight bend.

I.D.10-t · Post by **I.D.10-t** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:50 pm

The Dayton C Millercollection has some nice photos.
Search "Boxwood" and click on "Gallery view".

Boxwood fife

Chiff and Fipple Forums

boxwood and warping

Is your boxwood flute warped?

boxwood and warping