Cracked Flute?

[Lone-Coyote]

Hi people, i've got a bamboo flute, and i've been playing for over 3 months now.
somehow i realized that it now has 2 cracks on the flute body (they werent there when i purchased)
it's a very playable flute and has a nice tone so i don't want to buy another one. Any one has tips on how to fix it?
the cracks are very small, i have to pay attention to see them. one is about 3 inches in length and the other is about 4. the width of the cracks is smaller than one millimetter.
The flute still sounds well enough but i'm affraid the cracks will get bigger.
should i just apply some household glue into them?
thank you

[Julia Delaney]

I would spread the crack very carefully and put a bit of super glue in the crack. Squeeze it together and it should be fine.

[Gabriel]

If I remember correctly, bamboo has the tendency to develop surface cracks that don't harm the rest of the "wood". The hard layer on the outside of bamboo sticks is the epidermis of the grass (which bamboo actually is), below is a thicker layer of quite elastic "flesh". If the crack really goes through, applying a bit of superglue and squeezing it together should be the way to go (but the crack might split open again, as bamboo is very springy), if it's just the surface that is cracked you should be fine without doing anything...however pouring some fluid superglue into the crack won't harm. You could also go the "traditional" way and wrap some cottong thread around the tube, covering the crack, and soak it in shellac afterwards. That's how bansuris and the like are secured against cracking IIRC.

[Denny]

bondage


all the best bamboo do it

[Doug_Tipple]

The correct answers have already been given above. However, following Denny's line of reasoning about bondage, I would recommend tape, not just ordinary masking tape or duct tape (although that seems to be the choice for bondage) but shiny-decorative tape like Michael Flatley uses on his flutes when he really wants to step out in style.

[Denny]

bamboo bling oxymoron

[Lone-Coyote]

thank you very much for answering me.
please forgive my ignorance but what is shellac? it sounds good?
and about the super glue part, if i apply some into the crack, i still can't squeeze them together because the crack is very small and the bamboo is very hard..

[Doug_Tipple]

thank you very much for answering me.
please forgive my ignorance but what is shellac? it sounds good?
and about the super glue part, if i apply some into the crack, i still can't squeeze them together because the crack is very small and the bamboo is very hard..

Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug. The good news is that you don't need to have a colony of lac bugs in order to have shellac; you can buy it in bottles or cans at the store.

Small cracks in bamboo can be simply filled with superglue, beeswax, etc. You don't need to worry about squeezing the crack together, although a professional fix would most likely included binding the crack.