Flute

It's my customer flute!  It's a Gemeinhardt from Music and Arts in Fredrick, MD
 and it's in pretty good shape.

I did find that wonderful little note tucked in the case and at first I couldn't see exactly what the damage was because the key was in the way but when I actually got the flute apart I could see that it looked like someone had taken a pair of pliars and pinched the tone hole.



It's hard to tell from this picture, but right up there at 12:00 is where it got pinched.  I brought the tone hole back into round as much as possible and sanded the damaged section enough to make it blunter than it was before.


However, I took everything off the instrument and cleaned it before I got to work.  I kept all of the old pads as a reference on the off chance I needed them when I put the new pads in.

The knock pins came out like a dream and  after everything went through the detergent soak and the pickle, they looked nice and shiny and clean.  I had a small dent in the foot joint tenon and the head joint tenon was out of round, but they were pretty easy fixes and the only thing besides the tone hole that needed work.

Dent...

No dent!

I replaced the nasty old head cork with brand new cork, sealed it with paraffin wax and installed it.

Nasty, old head cork

V.S.

Shiny, new head cork

I got the pads level and protruding correctly (ironing them was a breeze),

and they came out of the pad oven with great seats.

The next step was to add cork and I have to say, I'm very proud of my corks.  They came out beautifully, even if I did cut myself in the process.

I got everything regulated and vented properly and after some silver polish, this flute was looking fabulous.