I found this while cleaning my new old Hammy last night. I will probably send it off for repair at some point, although it seems to be stable for now. This is the “top” end of the body. I’m not sure if that is original wood that is split off, or if it is a graft that has come undone, or what. Any thoughts?
Hi William-
Yow! Sorry to see that. It’s a good thing Hammy uses those brass rings to help support the tenons or that would probably be even worse. Hopefully Terry or Jon will chime in here with their expertise. I am a novice, so will keep my mouth shut 
FWIW, the bore looks really dry in the pic.
Looks like someone did a really poor job at a graft. I’d have someone re-do it.
Hi William,
Although I had this before you for a short time, I didn’t notice it, and it’s hard to tell exactly what I’m looking at in your blown up picture. I do see a line of demarcation-the brown line on top left, but can’t tell what that is even with the close-up. I don’t know what the white line is on the bottom that looks to be inside of the ring. Things look very different that big!
Jon did some work on it, but I don’t know if there was anything done to the top tenon. I understand it was the slide and head that he worked on, which was all I knew of previous repairs, which I told you about before. It could be from when it was made too, or even an earlier repair, hard to say on an older flute such as it is, and from the early 80’s as I was told.
Be well, Barry
Casey!!!
LOL!
OK, now that I lightened up the photo, I can see the problem! It’s definitely come loose, and it’s something that just happened-looks like you’re probably right about a lamination. Have you been humidifying it also, besides the playing? Just curious. I didn’t play it that hard, but the previous owner said he had sessioned with it after the repairs and all was fine, but he had been keeping it at about 60% humidity, and so was I.
Here’s the lightened picture:
This isn’t my work, at least not that I remember. It isn’t a graft, but a glob of glue that has come loose there. Looks like it is time for a tenon replacement to me.
And to think, I was slaving away on someone’s Hawkes and Sons tonight, grafting a new socket… I was going to give him a good deal, but now? 
I’ve kept it in its case with the damp sponge, but I will try keeping it in a ziploc bag tonight with the sponge and see if it seals up. I’m not sure the humidifying will help, though, because it doesn’t seem change after I’ve been playing for a while. If it does help, I suppose I could try to get it mostly closed with humidity, put in some glue, clamp it, and then humidify it some more. Or maybe I should get someone to replace the tenon as Jon says, and at the same time do a cleaner job of gluing up the typical headjoint crack than I did.
Taking a closer look with a flashlight, it does appear to me that the material that’s sticking out is not original, and I’m also not 100% sure it’s even the same kind of wood. It is shiny and smooth, while the rest is not shiny and has grain. It is not loose and flappy, either, and the instrument fits together comfortably so I think that as long as it’s treated with care it should be fine, but I would still feel better having it fixed appropriately.
The bore does appear to be dry; I will oil it again soon.
Also, it may not be totally obvious but there is still a seemingly unbroken ring of wood inside the metal ring. So I think it’s fragile, and I think that it should be fixed, but I don’t think it’s going to fall apart at any second. I hope… As far as tone goes, it is outstanding.
I don’t think its at any greater risk at this point. It will still need a new tenon.
Kevin Krell
Urk, we get all the good jobs, eh, Jon?
Bit hard to be definitive with only an image to go on, but I wonder if the shiny delaminating bit is something like compounded dust and superglue, used to fill a void. Why there would be a void there is perhaps the question.
The socket hole doesn’t seem quite central in the tenon ring - the wall thickness seems greatest on top, tapering down both sides and being augmented with the shiny stuff at the bottom. Bit hard to imagine what might have caused that.
I would expect having that bit sticking out into the airstream to have some impact on playing quality. It looks precarious, and might tear out while swabbing, and the remaining void won’t be ideal for smooth airflow either. So it would be worth seeking attention. Simplest fix is probably just to get some glue under it and wedge it back into place. But a new tenon would be a more elegant fix.
Terry
I think you might be right about the material, Terry. It doesn’t look like wood to me, and it didn’t move one bit when being humidified overnight, which, if it were wood, I would have expected it to. I think I will try gluing and clamping it, give it a few weeks and if it remains stable, I will give it a light sanding to smooth it out.
Wood that has super glue on the surface doesn’t show the grain many times too from what I’ve seen on repaired flutes, so it may just be that, and it’s not absorbing the moisture because of the coating on it. But, it was in place before, and should be able to be put back in place if done right. Just don’t know what method to suggest!
Good luck!
So, I just squeezed some super glue into the gap, held it shut for a minute or so, and it dried like that (without my finger attached). The surface is obviously not smooth, but the material is no longer sticking out. I’m glad I took the chance and did it; it is easier to focus the tone and play the high octave in tune now.
I gave it a few hours to dry some more and then oiled the whole thing. I will keep doing that every couple of days until it seems like the wood isn’t so dry.
Thanks for the advice, guys. This is a heck of a flute for the price I paid and I am glad this doesn’t seem to be an emergency type of problem. I think it will be perfectly playable in the meantime until I get a chance to have it gone over professionally.