Worst way: synthetic thread applied under tension while the flute is turning on a lathe. The elastic thread is stretched so much that when the tenon is wrapped the thread chokes the tenon. The thread can be so taut that it acts like a rubber band stretched and wound on the end of your finger, choking circulation.
Best way: slowly, by hand, with the thread under only as much tension as is needed to keep the thread from sagging. Flute in one hand, thread in the other. The advantage of natural fiber rather than synthetic is that natural fiber won’t stretch to the same extent. It won’t act like a hose clamp. Wind the thread on slowly. Wax as you go. Bees’ wax is best – but I have used Sno-Seal, chap stick, bees’ wax, Burt’s Bees Bruise Cream, etc. Anything that will make the tenon seal better and protect the thread from moisture. The main thing is not to do it too tightly. It isn’t the material that causes the problem. It is the application technique.
With respect to Terry, I like to cork the tenons. I find it neater though it does take a bit longer. But either way will work. Use of synthetic cork, or the sheets found in automotive supply houses, is not recommended. Google “instrument cork” to find places that sell the proper kind of cork.
How do you apply beeswas? A few drops of it all around and then spread it with your finger?
I’ve heard (but I don’t know) that cork sheets used for clarinet are thicker.
How do you apply beeswax? I just shmear some on the tenon before I start to thread the tenon, then I just wrap-- pausing every so often to shmear some more on. Eventually it will spread out and penetrate the thread.
…cork sheets used for clarinet are thicker. Maybe. Did you google the link? You might have to sand down the cork to make a perfect fit, but that’s not hard either. Just don’t sand the wood.
I did some home cooking the other day, from Sam Murray’s recipe 2 parts vaseline to 1 part beeswax. I guess this is mostly meant to add to a existing threaded tenon though since he recommends the same method i used on my uilleann pipes, pull the thread through a lump of bees/cobblers wax, and the friction heat will melt the wax into the thread (mind your fingers though, you can get nasty friction burns from the thread!)
Looks almost edible : ) Handy little breath mint tin too.
Seems somewhat paradoxical to use beeswax and then add petroleum jelly… At that point, you might as well use parafin wax as your wax base, since it’s all petroleum oil. Not that I’d question Murray, and I’m not one that thinks wood is offended by inorganic oils. Still, I do essentially the same thing, (2 part oil to one part beeswax) but with almond (or light olive, or whatever…), just 'cause it seems healthier…
You may well have a point there, Gordon.
However i’m the kind of guy who does what he’s told when it comes to care and maintenance of instruments and cars/motorcycles.
My reason for this - should something evil happen it’s not because of me, because i did everything by the book
The “BEST” thread wax is sold in nifty large rings at hardware stores, in the plumbing section!
Seriously, the toilet bowl wax ring is excellent! It has a rather stiff gooey consistency and tenaciously sticks to the thread. I use it liberally and then just clean up the excess when I’m done.
I do also run my thread through a block of bee’s wax while re-wrapping a tennon, extra insurance never hurts!
Maybe, but then you can always blame the author and stand without guilt
Of course i use personal judgment as well, but if it does sound reasonable i do as i am told for the aforementioned reason/s
I don’t understand why the non-elasticity of natural fibres should be an advantage. I’d thought the elasticity of man-made thread is an advantage, if the thread is not wound on too tightly, as it can expand when the wood expands, which natural fibres cannot (they can only be squashed, if not wound too tightly). Also man-made thread fibres don’t need the same protection from water, so that too should be an advantage over cotton or hemp thread.
I’ve tried both, and it seems to me that the two yield slightly different results. The mixture with almond oil seems to me better suited to threading tenons, as it keeps more of the stickiness of beeswax. The petroleum jelly version is a little more slippery and seems better as a tenon (thread or cork) grease, as it seems less sticky.
I have been very happy using bowstring wax (used for bowstrings for archery, not fiddles…). Mine is close to 40 years old (Fred Bear brand) and still relatively soft, unlike parrafin. I don’t think that brand is still available, but am sure you can source something similar (i.e. here). Wax based watercloset rings might be cheaper, but the bowstring wax comes in a convenient container. I pull the thread through it a few times to give it an initial coat then rub more wax on the tennon after every other wrap during the process. When done I warm it a bit with my fingers and bed the whole wrapping down. Needless to say the thread is wrapped quite loosely.
I’m sorry for being unclear, the Sam Murray “recipe” is indeed for tenon grease, not for threading tenons, although i imagine it could be used for that as well.
Just a reference you guys may care to note … dacron fishing line, the “braided” type, has virtually no elasticity … I can feel the sinker/weight dragging over the small stones on the beach at fifty yards, it really is that taut. If you’re looking for a thread that absolutely won’t stretch when you wind it onto a tenon, this could be the stuff … it doesn’t rot, either
My semi-educated guess is that we want a thread that is slightly compressible, but not elastic. An elastic thread, wound over the tenon under tension, would exert a constant restricting force even when the flute was apart. We wouldn’t want that. However, we want the thread to compress a little when we assemble the flute, so that it forms a tight seal. If it’s too compressible, the joint would flex.
Hemp thread seems just about right. It’s not stretchy at all, and a well-wrapped tenon feels solid to the touch, but gives just enough when you assemble the instrument to form a solid, air-tight connection. I’ve used hemp on Scottish bagpipes, where a tight seal is absolutely necessary, and where the chanter drop out of its joint and smash on the ground if the joint doesn’t hold well. Hemp is also rot-resistant.
I’m not sure if fishing line would fit the bill. It might not compress enough. Its slipperiness might also make it a bit too mobile to manageable.
I think it’s great that we’ve moved from a position of denial about the dangers of thread wrapping to a discussion of the best and worst ways of approaching it. I’d love to be able to jump in right now and say with authority “the research clearly indicates that…”, but it would be premature - I really don’t think we’ve learned enough yet.
David Shorey, well-known dealer in old flutes, swears by Coates and Coates darning thread, which he describes as a soft 4-ply. He’s sending me a spool, presumably for my education! I had been avoiding getting sucked into consideration of what thread is best - it really doesn’t matter to me as I use cork - but I suspect I can’t put it off forever. At least we now know how the destructive mechanism works, so it shouldn’t be hard to put a few threads to test and see which of them is least likely to trigger it.
It always makes sense to test the extremes, as you learn what to look for in more sensitive tests. David’s darning thread sounds like a good “soft, pliable” example. I wondered about dental floss as a “hard, unyielding” example. It would also make sense to test piper’s hemp, but I think I’ve used up the spool I had. I might just have to go out and mug a piper!
I suppose you could say I’ve been testing waxed dental floss for a few years on the same flute, now. Not scientifically, I admit. While I never really thought consciously about this detail, it’s exactly the nonelastic quality of it that I like; the relative precision of controlling tension and thickness with that product is little gamble at all, I think.
I guess you’d want to use the same length of string for each
sample and apply the same force to each sample. Wrap it around
a semi-flexible tube - maybe light gauge aluminum with a strain
gauge inside to measure the compression force. The lowest force wins.
You’ll have to remove the human element too by mounting the tube
on a rotating spindle and feeding the thread from another spindle
that has a bit of friction impeding it.
However, in the real world the winding action is more complex.
With elastic string there is a tendency to pull it out under tension, then
wrap while maintaining tension - a two phase action. That would
create enormous pressure compared with a one phase action of
wrapping the same string under relaxation.
This is rather like the climate change debate: English majors armed
with rhetoric vs physical scientists armed with statistical data.
The data is unaffected by rhetoric.
