My title says most of it: I have a keyed flute in which the C-key remains open after I use it. Could the block have swollen? (Keeping it too humidified? I keep the case in a rubbermaid-type container.)
I keep the flute in a pistol case in which I have carved out slots for each piece. I don’t think that the case would have bent the key, but possible, I guess. I’ve been super careful with the flute.
Opinions? Solutions?
I had the same problem with my flute. After a couple of days my short f-key was stuck. I thouht it was the block but I removed the small pin wich goes through the block and the key and removed the key as well. Then I sipmly replaced it and since then it has been working perfectly. I guess the pin was slightly out of place. It worked for me, maybe it could work for you.
Markus
What’s your flute made of? If it’s boxwood and your humiditiy levels are very high, I suppose it’s possible. Haven’t had any trouble with my blackwood blocks, and here we’ve had more than one run of days where you might as well be breathing water.
I’ve heard that a common cause of sticky keys is the mistake of getting a little oil within the block channel and gumming things up. Could that be the issue?
We had this problem with my wife’s flute, only on the C key. The maker gave us the go-ahead to sand just a little off the inside of the blocks, thinking it may be a humidity difference. It worked just fine. If it’s a new flute, definitely get the maker’s opinion; if it’s old, just go ahead if re-seating it doesn’t work. Use very fine sandpaper, I think I used 600 grit.
Hmmm. I had just oiled it a day or two before this occurred, so maybe that is the issue.
The little pin that holds it in is so tiny, it’s hard to even see how to get ahold of it to try taking it out and then replacing it. The flute is made of blackwood. I’ll try to contact the maker and see what he says.
Thanks, Jeanie
Best bet is to check with the maker, but YEAH, blocks can swell OR shrink OR warp, wreaking havoc with the keyways.
I suppose that’s why there are some ultra-expensive flutes with “lined keyways.” Such as hyuh.
Stuart
Problem with lined blocks (if the liner takes the form of a U-channel of metal) is that it can promote splitting during long periods of dry weather, in the same way as lined heads and barrels. The little gap around the key in the normal unlined situation provides a bit of room to move.
Now contrary to what you might imagine, the slot in the block should get wider, not narrower, when the weather turns moist. Remember that the block is attached to a tube of wood, and that this tube gets bigger in moist weather. This means that its circumference gets bigger, and as the slot is a section of the circumference it gets wider, not narrower.
Always the first thing to do when something gets stuck is to take it apart and clean it. Pull the pin, pop the key out, and clean the sides of it, and the insides of the block. (Pins usually have a little hook at one end, slip a knife blade under the hook to start it moving, then it should pull out easily. Careful with the knife not to scratch the wood.) Test the key in the slot, it should go in and out easily.
If it has the usual leaf spring arrangement, make sure that the striker plate (where the spring tip meets the flute) is clean. Check also that the tip of the spring is clean and smooth. Put a spot of cork grease (or any other lubricant) on the tip of the spring, and reassemble. It should return smoothly now. If not, come back to us!
Terry,
Thanks for the advice. The C-natural key, however, does not have the little hook on the pin. (THe B-flat does, but not the C.) It’s just a teeny, tiny little pin that barely sticks out of the block. So, what’s the best way to get one this small out? I tried the end of a paper clip, but I was too afraid I’d scratch the block. I may have been too gentle. (I haven’t been able to contact the maker yet.)
Thanks, Jeanie
Hmmm, tricky. I use a pin punch for such tasks - essentially a hardened steel rod with one end ground down to pin diameter, and the other flat for tapping with a small hammer. A light tap usually dislodges the pin.
Problem with a paperclip is it isn’t stiff and therefore tricky to push. If you have a pair of pliers, you could hold the paper clip near the end. If you press the back of the key lighlty, you can take the spring pressure off the pin, allowing it to move more easily.
I put hooks on all my pins, and also make the end protrude a little from the block with a bullet-shaped profile. This makes them easier to put in and pull out. To dislodge the pin, you just push the end of the pin with something hard. Once loosened, a fingernail or a knife blade (if you’re a guitarist!) will pull it out.
Terry
I’ve used the dulled tip of a small nail effectively for such pins. Just find a nail about the same diameter as the pin, file the tip a bit, and just push it in enough to push the pin out far enough that you can pull it out with a pair of needle nose pliers. Since the nail is tapered, you really don’t want to push it in too far in case it’s diameter is greater than the hole.
Eric
I believe you, and this makes sense, but it’s contrary to my own experience. I’ve only experienced this difficulty when something has come here from a very dry climate, and it’s usually been wood that moves (like boxwood). Is it possible, do you think, that humidity-related swelling could make the channel smaller?
I suppose it also could be that humidity-related swelling/warping just screwed up the whole dynamic of the keys. . . ?
Stuart
I’m still trying to reach the maker to get his opinion. If the pins had the little hooks Terry mentioned, I’d try to take the key out. I may try one of the methods suggested, but I want to talk to the maker first. I don’t want to scratch the block with a nail, paper clip, etc.
Once I get this resolved, I’ll let you know how it worked out.
Sturob:
I believe you, and this makes sense, but it’s contrary to my own experience. I’ve only experienced this difficulty when something has come here from a very dry climate, and it’s usually been wood that moves (like boxwood). Is it possible, do you think, that humidity-related swelling could make the channel smaller?
I think it is possible, especially in a nutty wood like boxwood. For example, supposing a flute comes from a dry place to a wet place. The blocks, protruding as they do from the body of the flute, could possibly absorb moisture and swell, narrowing the gap, before the body absorbs enough moisture to swell, widening the gap. So you could imagine some unexpected changes during transition.
Another might be where moisture uptake causes some twisting in the wood below a long key like upper c. The hinge and guide blocks might both open up, but become misaligned, pinning the key.
And given that wood shrinks approximately twice as fast on the tangential as the radial axis, all kinds of odd things could happen as the tube goes oval.
Given that we know the old English flutes have shrunken quite a bit(causing the impressive cracks in heads and barrels, and under lined slots), it seems surprising that we rarely see pinned keys. Possibly the wood distorts the small amount needed to prevent cracking around a 3mm keyshaft (having first exhausting the clearance around the key), but can’t accommodate larger demands.
Terry
FWIW,
If you tap the pin out far enough for pliers … make sure you use SMOOTH-jawed pliers and maybe even wrap the pin in cloth when you go to pull it out.
Otherwise, your pin ends might wind up looking like like silver hamburger.
Good luck!
P.S. You sounded great yesterday. 
I’ve had three flutes that would show this problem occasionally, a Eugene Lambe 4 key, made in Ireland, an R&R 8 key, and an A. Liddle 8 key (England). Rather than “fix” the sticky Cnat key, I used it as an indicator that the flute was drying out too much, and immediately stepped up the humidity. Worked a treat every time.
I believe the native humidity of Ireland and England runs quite a bit higher than my New Jersey USA living room this time of year. The C nat key provides a nice early warning system that the flute is getting too dry and in danger of cracking.
Eventually I bought a humidity gauge in a cigar store and found that by keeping these flutes at 65% - 70% humidity, the problem never reappeared.
All the best,
Tom
I got in touch with the maker, and he basically told me to do what Terry and some of the rest of you suggested.
I used a small paper clip to push out the pin. I tried cleaning off the key and channel. When I reassembled it, the key still stuck.
So, I disassembled it again and used a fine metal emory board to just barely rub in the channel and a bit on the side of the key. I reassembled it, and now it works beautifully again.
The maker thought the humidity/season change could have been resonspible for the sticking key.
So, that’s the update. Thanks for everyone’s advice. I just had to get up the courage to do it. I was so afraid of breaking or scratching the flute and/or key.
Jeanie
