Alto flute head joint fitting

[HMannfan]

I recently had a request to adjust a loose fitting head joint on a Jupiter alto flute. I checked with Curtis Ferree, and he recommended using their H59 tenon expander. They also list two head swedging dies in specific sizes for Gemeinhardt and Armstrong alto flutes.

I don't want to attempt using the tenon expander without also having a method to swedge the head joint in case I enlarge the tenon too much. The Gemeinhardt swedging die is listed as having a 1.030" diameter hole. The Jupiter flute has an outside diameter of 1.024", so the Gemeinhardt swedging die might work. Is there a way to swedge the flute tenon other than using a swedging die?

I may be biting off more than I can chew. What do you think?

Mark

[pied_piper]

If the Gemeinhardt swedging die won't close quite enough to shrink the Jupiter tenon, you might be able to place some thin brass shim stock around the tenon to take up the slack. Then you could continue with the swedging.

[HMannfan]

Thanks. I was considering doing just that.

[HMannfan]

I figured I'd post an update.
I received the tenon expander and Gemeinhardt swedging die in the mail a couple days ago. I worked on expanding the alto flute's head joint tenon. The can-opener style tenon expander worked very well. It took me a little while to get the tension between the rollers just right and expanding the tenon in small increments. Got a real nice smooth fit in the receiver. Didn't need the Gemeinhardt swedging die for this job, but it will work on this and other flutes if needed.

[pied_piper]

Glad to hear it worked out for you!