GAH! I can't believe i just did that!!

[Callidor]

damnit! I was cleaning my flute. (the nice one. silver.) and i accidentally DROPPED the headjoint! the end of it where it slides into the body tube is definately dinged...no longer perfectly rounded. fortunately, i notice no difference at all in tone or playability, but it is more difficult to get it into the body now. is this a bigger problem, smaller problem, or as big a problem as i am judging it to be?

flutes can be replaced, but this one is really my mom's. she said i could have it, but so long as she's alive i don't consider it my own. I'm going to be really really upset if i just did some irrevocable harm to it..

EDIT: upon second thought, after finishing cleaning off the head and body joints, it seems to slide in with less difficulty. perhaps the damage was all or mostly in my head..but im still nervous...

[fluteguy18]

Ah.... this happens from time to time if we arent careful. A competant tech should be able to remedy the problem rather quickly.

[Flute_star3]

I accidentally threw my silver plated headjoint across the room and the end bent into a triangle! Amazingly, it only cost me 20$ and they even took care of some of the scratches! I don't know how solid silver is different, but I don't imagine it would cost very much.

[kdell]

Hey there! Well, my headjoint was dropped a few years ago, and it's never been bent perfectly back into shape. I sent it in and it's a little rounder, but my advice to you is send it in to bet it bent back, then just add a little grease or something to the bottom so it slides in easier. Oh, but be careful on how much you put on it, because it can become so slippery that it'll slide out when you don't want it to (a little goes a long way...once during a concert, the whole headjoint fell off, and the cork fell out as well! Yikes! ). So just be careful, but if it's still really hard to get in, you might want to consider just buying a new headjoint piece. I have personally never known anyone who sells just the head piece, but I'm sure if you explain your situation they can come up with something. Good luck!

[fluttiegurl]

Ooo! I would never recommend putting any kind of grease on any part of the flute. For one thing, it can damage the finish, but more importantly, it can gum up the tenon and make it even harder to assemble and unassemble.

You can buy headjoints seperately, but they do not come cheap. Even silver plated ones can run hundreds of dollars. Most of the time, dents can be repaired by a technician. Damage to a headjoint can actually be quite severe and cause issues with intonation. The lip plate can also become loose. If the damage is to the lip plate, it can disrupt the air flow.