Noticed that the long F-key on my Rudall Carte & Co. needs repairing or replacing. There is a crack where the key bends upwards, just in line above the pivot wire that goes through the block. The key shaft isn’t broken completely through so I wonder if super glue would be sufficient to hold the key shaft together, or would it be better to solder the crack. Or is it time for a replacement F-key? The flute is 123 years old so I suppose metal fatigue is to be expected
If it seems to be stable and the key works OK, then I would just leave it as it is. It gets very little stress in normal use so the crack will probably not grow. If it needs a repair then soldering would be best.
I agree with Dave. Superglue will not achieve anything useful. German Silver is quite brittle and this kind of thing is not unusual. Don’t worry about it too much until it actually snaps, which will probably happen at some point. Then it will need to be silver-soldered. There will be no need whatever to replace the original key. Or you could just have it done pre-emptively.
Thanks Dave and Jem. I’ll silver solder then when the time comes. A couple of days ago met a pair of silversmiths and discussed ordering a brass bass drone puck to replace the imitation ivory puck that’s my pipes.
Be aware SP that the spring may be held in place by a pin rivet that has been soldered on. Heating the key to solder repair any “fatigue” may also heat the pin rivet up enough to dislodge it, therefore expect this to happen and maybe have another (new) rivet at hand to renew if necessary.
Funnily enough, just a week ago I had to do exactly this job on the C key of my R&R #4683 - sterling silver in my case. The key shank was cracking through the pivot pin hole and had weakened to the extent that the spring was forcing the touch end up so that, although not fully broken, the shank was no longer straight and the rise of the cup was insufficient. I actually deliberately snapped it and soldered it back together, protecting the spring from being annealed by conducted heat by sticking it into a small potato. I first measured and recorded the position of the pin hole relative to the cup because it would inevitably be filled with solder and have to be re-drilled.
These keys, in either metal, usually have integral sprue rivets for the springs, so unless there has been a previous repair, the problem Norman warns of is unlikely to be arise, but it is wise to check/be prepared!
Where do you get your small potatoes Jem?
H
Out o’the Bag of Spuds, of course, Norman.
It was a just a Lidl matter in this case, nearly new. But every little helps too.
Mostly lurking these times, but I love the potato idea.
It’s not original. Can’t remember who suggested it to me, but someone did. A chunk of apple would work as well, or any crisp, firm-fleshed moist vegetable. With sterling there can be a problem with the heat from the torch getting conducted away too efficiently to get the joint/solder up to working temperature, so the amount of heat sinkage from clamps, vegetables etc. may have to be adjusted. It’s less problematic in nickel-silver. With these keys with rivetted-on springs, you don’t really want to remove the springs unless there’s no alternative, but at least they can mostly be pivotted to 90° from the shank and either shielded from the torch or heat-sunk as I did. French keys with screw-on springs, no problem!