Broken head joint receiver on Emerson EP-3MH piccolo

[HMannfan]

I have an Emerson EP-3MH piccolo that has a broken head joint receiver. The body is still in one piece, but the metal collar surrounding the head joint receiver wobbles slightly. Immersing it in water after plugging all the tone holes etc. and pumping air into the body, it bubbles like crazy around the base of the collar.

I would like to know if anyone has seen this problem before and any possible repair suggestions you may have. Does anyone know if this outside collar can be removed? The piccolo also has a brass sleeve on the inside of the receiver that the silver head joint slides into.

I've been watching on Ebay for another piccolo the same as this one and noticed one that obviously has had epoxy applied to the base of the collar. I queried the seller about this, but they had no specific information as to why this was so, only that it was perfectly playable as shown. It was removed from Ebay a short time later. Here is one of the pictures from Ebay:


Thank you,
Mark

[mirwa]

It is not uncommon to remove / epoxy and refit these, especially if the body is wood.

[fluteguy18]

Take it off, scuff the inside of the metal sleeve and the outside of the underlying material with a super fine sandpaper (400-600 grit). Make sure the joints are clean (dust free and no old glue), mix up some epoxy, apply to both surfaces and replace. Clean up any glue that squeezes out and you're done.

Don't clean with denatured alcohol. It will dehydrate any wood, and it could make the plastic brittle.

[HMannfan]

Fluteguy18,

How do I remove the collar? Is it epoxied onto the plastic body or simply a press fit? If it is epoxied onto the plastic, what can I use to release the epoxy? I reiterate that the picture I provided is of a similar piccolo I saw on Ebay, not mine.

Mark

[fluteguy18]

That's the tricky part isn't it?

Hmm. If I had to do it, I'd try to soften it slightly with a heat gun on a low setting, and then try to twist it off. The risk here however is what to do if you melt the underlying plastic. Putting the body (only) in the freezer for a few hours first might help the metal expand more quickly than the plastic thereby helping release the adhesive... You could try hitting it softly with a rawhide mallet to try to fracture the glue, but then again you risk damaging the plastic interior. Of course you could always turn it in a lathe, cut it off, and then make a new one...

Decisions decisions.

[HMannfan]

fluteguy18

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll think about it for a while.

Anyone else ever try to take one of these apart?

Thanks,
Mark

[mirwa]

Anyone else ever try to take one of these apart?

I dont want to start but,

If a person has never done a specific repair then they should not offer any advice on how to do the repair, Just my opinion. If they start with something like, I have never done said repair, but I would approach it as follows.., then that is pretty genuine and honest

First how does the manufacturer fit it, they machine the wood or plastic, put a small bit of glue on the reciever socket and then press it into place, on a good instrument its a very close fit, on a poor instrument its rather loose, sometimes I have found that a receiver has been fitted and then squeezed at either end to lock it onto the material underneath.

I would not use a heat gun or flame as it ""will"" melt the plastic body and do damage

I find there are a few styles, is it a receiver socket or just a re-inforcement ring for the receiver

the first is simply the wood / plastic has been bored and the receiver is pressed down into the bore, you can tell these because when you look inside, there is a silver tube that extends further into the instrument than the outside collar, plus it is one piece of silver connected

The next style they have created a small receiver and then this has been sleeved with the silver one, the inside tube is similiar in length to the outside collar, again the inside and outisde piece are joined

The last is simply they have turned the wood / plastic down and just put a sleeve on the outside, this is really just a re-inforcement ring, this is evident because the inside is wood or plastic and the outside is just a sleeve like a clarinet receiver ring just longer

The repair


If its loose as you indicate already then perfect, simply wiggle it off, no heat needed, no flame, nothing just wriggle it free, be careful because if its the machined receiver style, you can crack the receiver underneath, so you will have to repair the understructure before regluing into place, but then again it may already be cracked and hence why its loose.

To fit it back on simply clean the old glue bits off and epoxy (I use two part 24hr araldite)on the inside and it will squeeze out as you slide them together

Its as simple as that

[mirwa]

If you can supply a photo of the top view looking down into the piccolo, I can tell you what style you have

[fluteguy18]

Well yes. Of course if you can twist it off, please do so by all means. I had assumed that you had already tried that. Without seeing it, I'm suspicious that the underlying plastic is already damaged if bubbles are escaping from the bottom edge.

If twisting doesn't work, then good luck with whatever method you choose. I've managed to remove them by applying very modest heat to soften the glue slightly without any harm to the underlying material. Usually however, Mirwa is right. With the proper grip they usually twist right off.

Good luck. It's clear I don't have any more input on this subject.

[HMannfan]

Thank you Steve and fluteguy18 for your replies. I think I'll just set it aside for a while and consider my options. I don't want to destroy it completely trying to remove the collar without really knowing what I am doing.

Thanks again,
Mark