I am sooo sad...

[ImNotIrish]

While up at my house in Vermont this weekend I discovered a small crack in the barrel of my beautiful Hudson Pratten flute. Seems to be about 3/8" long and is through the unlined section of the barrel, the socket I guess. The flute still plays well, but I noticed it because something was just not right when I was playing it. I thought perhaps it was just another pad (definitely over due in that department), but alas...sigh. Any suggestions as to how to deal with this? I thought about trying to use some superglue and suck it into the crack, but as the crack is not the entire length of the barrel it would probably just keep on going. Jon C., are you around?
Arbo

[Aanvil]

Ouch... it happens. Sorry to hear but you'll get him fixed up I'm sure.

Thats the one Terry has listed on his site?

Something made it crack.

Getting a little too dry?

I wouldn't do anything right now other than make sure its properly humidified.

I'm sure Jon or Terry will give some advice.

In the mean time a little scotch tape might seal it enough for playing.

[ImNotIrish]

Ouch... it happens. Sorry to hear but you'll get him fixed up I'm sure.

Thats the one Terry has listed on his site?

Something made it crack.

Getting a little too dry?

I wouldn't do anything right now other than make sure its properly humidified.

I'm sure Jon or Terry will give some advice.

In the mean time a little scotch tape might seal it enough for playing.

I had left it together sitting out on the dresser overnight. DUH! The combination of forced air heating and my negligence. Geez, after 150+ years! I am usually so careful, and then one little slip, and....
Arbo

[Cork]

I once damaged one of my own flutes, nothing functionally serious, just cosmetic, but to this day the damage remains.

And, after reading your post, let me extend my sympathy.

[jemtheflute]

My sympathies, too, Arbo. I remember how mortified I felt when the barrel of my R&R re-cracked (it had an old crack that had been pinned) when I let it get too dry out at my folks place in Spain a few summers back. Fortunately it doesn't leak (fully lined barrel incl. socket) and hasn't needed any attention other than ensuring it is adequately humidified if I go somewhere hot & dry - it's fine in damp old Britain, even when the central heating is on!

As for treatment, certainly re-humidify first and foremost. If you want to effect a permanent repair, it's not too bad a job. If the crack is only partial, is clean and grease free (or can be got that way with a solvent) and doesn't extend over the lined part, all you need do is remove the ferrule ring , VERY carefully (so as not significantly to extend the crack, but don't worry if you do so a little) open the end of the crack a little with a thin blade and run some superglue into it - work the blade a little to flex the crack and distribute the glue, then quickly clamp up with a couple of cable ties until well set. Excess glue is easily removed with a rub with cloth & acetone and maybe a gentle rub down with very fine wire wool. With luck a new and very fine crack won't need external top-dressing with wood dust and glue to hide it. Once done, it may be necessary to slightly gouge out the line of the crack on the inside of the socket (with something like a dental pick) and fill the crack line there with wood dust and glue to ensure a water- & air- tight seal - and then clean up for a tidy flush finish that won't snag the tenon lapping. When you re-affix the ferrule ring, it may be sensible to increase its pressure on the wood slightly by Terry's cloth tightening method. I usually glue rings back on with superglue, whether with a cloth insertion or direct to wood - just use plenty of glue if including cloth - you can clean any excess off readily enough.

[Terry McGee]

Bummer, Arbo.

Now I don't think you've told us where the crack is, other than it's in the socket, the only unlined section of the barrel. Is it at the mouth (ring) end or the tuning slide end of the socket, or somewhere between? Before fixing anything, I like to wring out every drop of forensic evidence I can as to why the problem happened in the first place. Was the flute left assembled? Is the crack a fine one following the grain or an angry one cutting across in places? Was the barrel to body joint very tight, and have you noticed that it gets tighter after playing? Is the ring normally tight? Is it tight now? What else can you detect that might let us determine the mechanism at work here?

Terry

[ImNotIrish]

Bummer, Arbo.

Now I don't think you've told us where the crack is, other than it's in the socket, the only unlined section of the barrel. Is it at the mouth (ring) end or the tuning slide end of the socket, or somewhere between? Before fixing anything, I like to wring out every drop of forensic evidence I can as to why the problem happened in the first place. Was the flute left assembled? Is the crack a fine one following the grain or an angry one cutting across in places? Was the barrel to body joint very tight, and have you noticed that it gets tighter after playing? Is the ring normally tight? Is it tight now? What else can you detect that might let us determine the mechanism at work here?

Terry

Terry, the crack runs along the grain. It is on the lower end of the barrel, on the unlined section. It is through the wood and can be seen on the inside of the socket. I had left the flute assembled overnight in my house which had forced air heating on intermittently.The connection was tight, but not terribly so. I did have a little teflon tape around the threaded end of the body. The ring is tight. I had played it earlier in the evening, but not for long, so it wasn't swabbed out.

Arbo

[Casey Burns]

This is unfortunate but it happens. Most of the Prattens I have seen have had cracks. Same with Rudalls, Prowses, etc.

I would stop using Teflon tape. I suspect this is the culprit. It allows a joint to feel correctly adjusted when in reality it is too tight, leading to such types of accidents. This is why I suspect any warranties on my own instruments when this is applied. On an older and more brittle instrument you are taking too many chance when using it!


Casey

[mutepointe]

One thing you have managed to do quite well is convince me that I do not have the ability to take care of a fine instrument. I wish you could have done this under better circumstances.

[Aanvil]

One thing you have managed to do quite well is convince me that I do not have the ability to take care of a fine instrument. I wish you could have done this under better circumstances.

Oh hells bells.

Of course you can.

Just swab it out, take it apart put in its case.

If you play it regularly it should keep moist enough on its own.

Don't leave it in an oven or in the freezer.

There you go.

[brotherwind]

One thing you have managed to do quite well is convince me that I do not have the ability to take care of a fine instrument. I wish you could have done this under better circumstances.

Oh hells bells.
Of course you can.
Just swab it out, take it apart put in its case.
If you play it regularly it should keep moist enough on its own.
Don't leave it in an oven or in the freezer.
There you go.

Or get you a beast out fo delrin instead...

[Terry McGee]

Terry, the crack runs along the grain. It is on the lower end of the barrel, on the unlined section. It is through the wood and can be seen on the inside of the socket. I had left the flute assembled overnight in my house which had forced air heating on intermittently.The connection was tight, but not terribly so. I did have a little teflon tape around the threaded end of the body. The ring is tight. I had played it earlier in the evening, but not for long, so it wasn't swabbed out.

Arbo

Hmmm, on the face of it, it doesn't sound like a recipe for disaster. The tenon was a tight fit, but not overly. The ring was a tight fit, and should therefore be supporting the thin socket wall well. The crack is not an angry crack, suggesting it is not caused by internal swelling due to moisture. Moisture shouldn't be able to reach that area of the socket anyway.

Casey might be right - teflon tape has fooled you into making the fit tighter than you think it is. Another possibility is that the thread itself has swollen, if it was not a water resistant thread, or wasn't made water resistant by waxing. But again, water should not be able to reach that part of the lapping.

Another possiblity is that the tenon has expanded, in turn putting increased pressure on the socket walls. If there's been a history of the flute being harder to put together when wet than when dry, it might point to that. But I guess we really don't have enough evidence to go on - perhaps it's a bit of some or all these things.

So, turning our minds to what to do about it, you can try the superglue approach, but if so, use a shockproof superglue, the usual stuff is pretty brittle. I wouldn't be altogether optimistic about it as a long-term fix, as this is a point under considerable stress (or it wouldn't have cracked!).

In the past, people have resorted to pinning or stitching cracks - this seems a bit barbaric to me. "Pressure rings" or "banding" also makes the flute look odd. But I think you should consider doing something to reinforce the cracked area. I have an account on my web page about gluing in a semicylindrical piece of wood along inside the cracked area, which seems to have worked well. I've also "overbored" the socket and glued in a sleeve of fresh timber, also without problem. The benefit of these approaches is that there are no external signs.

I'd be inclined to invest in one of these or similar approaches, probably the sooner the better. What we don't want is for the crack to continue up to the lined section, where there may already be stored forces just waiting for an invitation to join the party. I'd talk to a good maker or repairer near you about possible approaches.

If using the flute in the meantime, back off the tenon threading as much as possible, and perhaps add some temporary reinforcement to the outside of the socket. The Cheney Hose Clip was fashionable in the seventies, but put some electrical tape on first to protect the wood, and don't do it up too tight!

I'm assured that the older galvanised ones are much preferred over the modern stainless steel ones by Irish players seeking the traditional dark tone!

Terry

[crookedtune]

Yes, it would be mortifying to show up at session with the wrong hose clamp!

[ImNotIrish]

I am sending the flute off to Jon C. to have it repaired properly.
Terry: You and Casey are probably right about the tenon swelling some and the socket fit too snug. I never had a problem with trying to take the flute apart, though I would definitely say it was a snug fit. Oddly enough, the flute seems to be playing well at the moment.... I can't get those honking low O'grada 'D's' like I have been , but It still plays a hard 'D'. I also noticed that the cork could use replacing. Let's see what Jon has to say.

Arbo

[Carey]

Sorry to hear about your flute Arbo. I'm sure Jon will fix 'er up just fine. That's the ting about wood, you see, you can actually work with it and make nice repairs with the proper tools. It will be interesting to see how it feels to you once you've had her gone for a while and you get her back again.

Best,

Carey