Repair of nicks and dents - photo attached

[mirwa]

Did you unpin your trill key assembly and clean the rod.

[flutego12]

Did you unpin your trill key assembly and clean the rod.

I cleaned the rod but did not unpin the trill key as I do not that the key arm/ punch. ... yet.

Hence metaphorically, no, I didn't wash the armpits but I did clean the rods.

[flutego12]

Makes sense Mirwa. Lucky JLS, you've just sold the shop a few times over.
What do you think of
JLS's roller v Ferees new fancy roller
Medic's burnisher v Feree's

And ... are you by any chance off loading your flute station?

If you have more time than money and are feeling ambitious, you can make your own double handle burnisher from a screwdriver. Choose a screwdriver where the blade shank is round and maybe 6-10 mm in diameter. You'll need a buffing wheel and polishing compounds to polish the metal to a mirror finish. Cut a piece of an old wood broom handle to make the handle for the other end. Drill a hole and use epoxy to secure it in place. VOILA! You have a double handle burnisher...

you're a genius, Bob! What quality stainless steel should I get? Are the affordable ones useable do I need special grade? Thing is I do have grinders believe me we have multiple with various households but what do I use to buff? Oh a buffing wheel and what polishing compounds do you mean? ... oK so rollers roll but burnishers are dead locked in place?

[flutego12]

I have a bone to pick.

Why does Yamaha's stock standard cork come so OVERsized?
They are supposed to come out of the packaging PERFECTLY SIZED!

Q: How does one smooth shrink it - with a blade? it's going to be uneven...
The current cork does not look shaved at all, it looked like it came in the right size. (sorry for stupid Qs)

[mirwa]

You need to size and shape all headcorks, I use a lathe and sandpaper.

You could use a power drill to spin it against some sandpaper to bring the diameter down, then use a blade to trim for length.

[flutego12]

You need to size and shape all headcorks, I use a lathe and sandpaper.

You could use a power drill to spin it against some sandpaper to bring the diameter down, then use a blade to trim for length.

this is too much!

[fluteguy18]

This video should make it much easier. Generally you should aim for a barrel shaped cork. This method is the one I've seen my friends use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsQuTZcnEMc

The tech in the video is Lillian Burkart, founder and owner of Burkart Flutes.

[pied_piper]

you're a genius, Bob! What quality stainless steel should I get? Are the affordable ones useable do I need special grade? Thing is I do have grinders believe me we have multiple with various households but what do I use to buff? Oh a buffing wheel and what polishing compounds do you mean? ... oK so rollers roll but burnishers are dead locked in place?

Any reasonably good quality screwdriver should work. Some cheap ones are plated and should be avoided for this purpose.

Get a stitched muslin buff. If you have a bench grinder, you could mount a buff on it. Get a buff at least 1/2" thick, but the wider the better. For use on a grinder, buy one the same diameter as your grinding wheel. Try to find a buffing/polishing compound that is for steel, but if you can't find that, use whatever you can get.

Yes, rollers roll, but burnishers do not. Many burnishers are not round so they are incapable of rolling. As mirwa and I have stated, burnishers are for rubbing to smooth the metal.

[flutego12]

Incidentally I have these incredible people to thank for my first c.o.a. adventure, successfully completed w/o hitch for the first time today. I am elated.

zevang for sparking the courage and imagination with photologues from landell's workshop
pied piper & mirwa, you are awesome, thank you for giving me courage through your incredible patience, generous and willing impartation of invaluable & VERY relevant advice - you gentlemen are such incredible repositories of knowledge and experience - THANK YOU!
jim22 and thunderlily for ditto above, your knowledge sharing and encouragement really cheered me on. Love your blog! Keep it up, we are reading with great interest.
last but not least lin horng jun for baring all on the net.

Like I said - I did aim for low hanging fruit (got a decent "clunker"), but it is just as satisfying for me.
Ticked - Disassembly/ Reassembly
Ticked - Cleaning
Ticked - Oiling (Hetman Key Oil - Medium)
Ticked - 2 Timing Adjustments - 1 cork replacement, 1 screw adjustment
Ticked - 1 Lost motion - felt/cork replacement

So elated. And I have you all to thank for it. You made it easy by allowing me to stand on your shoulders (borrowed phrase but true). Providence!

The only unsuccessful attempt was to rub off the dint (2mm L 0.5mm D shallow crease) on my headjoint (with a plastic pen) without proper tools, did not budge one bit. Perhaps I was too ginger with it. It was the better headjoint too and did not want to spoil it. Oh I lied... the other back-off - non attempt (thus unsuccessful) was the headjoint cork change. And I thought that would be the easiest. pah!

merci beaucoup monsieurs and mademoiselle. you guys are AWESOME!

the greenhorn apprentice

[pied_piper]

Congrats! You're off to a good start.

[flutego12]

Congrats! You're off to a good start.

Thanks, sinseh!

[mirwa]

When test playing after you have serviced the instrument, start with a chromatic scale.

Then Bb via rear thumb, via F, via lever over F#, (Your listening for all 3 methods to sound the same)

Then Play F then let F go whilst fingering E, play F again and let go whilst fingering D. (your listening for stuffiness)

Then Play C (first finger) and straight into Low D, not Eb, (there should be no hesitation on the note)

Play chromatic to low C using roller on foot joint, skip C#, from D to C (your listening for a nice clean sound)

Play 3rd register and listen for clarity of notes, if slightly off you tweak your headcork fractionally (less than 1mm) to see if improvements can be achieved

Good to see you had some success

Regards

Steve

[flutego12]

When test playing after you have serviced the instrument, start with a chromatic scale.

Then Bb via rear thumb, via F, via lever over F#, (Your listening for all 3 methods to sound the same)

Then Play F then let F go whilst fingering E, play F again and let go whilst fingering D. (your listening for stuffiness)

Then Play C (first finger) and straight into Low D, not Eb, (there should be no hesitation on the note)

Play chromatic to low C using roller on foot joint, skip C#, from D to C (your listening for a nice clean sound)

Play 3rd register and listen for clarity of notes, if slightly off you tweak your headcork fractionally (less than 1mm) to see if improvements can be achieved

Good to see you had some success
Thanks Steve. It's useful to know what to listen for. Hopefully my concept of a nice clean sound is the same as yours
omgdness i have no idea HOW to tweak a headcork, let alone shave one to size (yet), it is round for goodness sakes - 1mm you mean in and out 17.3mm-/+1mm?
love that you are adding another layer of complexity for me to chew on. This flute plays evenly through registers. However I have another one which has different resonance on certain keys. Why is that?

I have a confession to make, after all the elation last night, this afternoon when I took the flute out to retest, ... to my horror and disbelief, the E key had developed a rickety joint!
How'd that happen! (actually could be that I dropped the entire LH mech keys to the floor yesterday prior to assembly but there were not problems post assembly . ThankGOD it broke the fall flat thus each bearing equal weight, or so I hope. No harm no foul.
... well as one does, I disassembled the LH mechanism again reOILED it somemore, worked the oil in, wiped off the excess and the problem disappeared. so pleased as punch again.

Regards

Steve

[flutego12]

When test playing after you have serviced the instrument, start with a chromatic scale.

Then Bb via rear thumb, via F, via lever over F#, (Your listening for all 3 methods to sound the same)

Then Play F then let F go whilst fingering E, play F again and let go whilst fingering D. (your listening for stuffiness)

Then Play C (first finger) and straight into Low D, not Eb, (there should be no hesitation on the note)

Play chromatic to low C using roller on foot joint, skip C#, from D to C (your listening for a nice clean sound)

Play 3rd register and listen for clarity of notes, if slightly off you tweak your headcork fractionally (less than 1mm) to see if improvements can be achieved

Good to see you had some success
Thanks Steve. It's useful to know what to listen for. Hopefully my concept of a nice clean sound is the same as yours
omgdness i have no idea HOW to tweak a headcork, let alone shave one to size (yet), it is round for goodness sakes - 1mm you mean in and out 17.3mm-/+1mm?
love that you are adding another layer of complexity for me to chew on. This flute plays evenly through registers. However I have another one which has different resonance on certain keys. Why is that?

I have a confession to make, after all the elation last night, this afternoon when I took the flute out to retest, ... to my horror and disbelief, the E key had developed a rickety joint!
How'd that happen! (actually could be that I dropped the entire LH mech keys to the floor yesterday prior to assembly but there were not problems post assembly . ThankGOD it broke the fall flat thus each bearing equal weight, or so I hope. No harm no foul.
... well as one does, I disassembled the LH mechanism again reOILED it somemore, worked the oil in, wiped off the excess and the problem disappeared. so pleased as punch again.

Regards

Steve

[mirwa]

Depends on what you mean by resonance and which keys