In the last month, I have taken delivery of two flutes that were made in Ireland: a Cotter and a Murray. Since being shipped from their respective former owners, BOTH have cracked through the barrell. How annoying!!! I think I better (mostly) stick to American-made flutes (or fall in love with black electrical tape - eeew). I wonder if Switzerland is more similar to Ireland or America…anyone know?
Jessie, I’m sorry, I know it sucks to have a flute crack, I wonder if using bore oil which catalyzes and is a better sealer would do a better job? do you use Almond oil?
I often hear about Murray flutes developing a crack, and hardly ever Hamm’s, I wonder if they have a deferent method of treating the timber?
Did you get the 6 keyed Murray that was up for sale around 3 weeks ago? I wanted it sooooo much, I still want to have a Murray flute one day.
Where was there a 6-key Murray up for sale? No, this is keyless.
The oil wouldn’t matter…these cracks developed in shipping in the case of the Cotter and within days of arrival in the case of the Murray.
I’d love a keyed Murray (very elegant design), but the cracks are disheartening. I am now yet to see a Murray flute in America or Canada without a crack in it. I bet they exist, but all the ones I’ve seen have been cracked.
Yes, I bet Hammy has a better drying method. His flutes crack, too, though. I once had one with a repaired crack.
Don’t all wooden flutes eventually crack? It sure seems like it, especially if they have a lined head and barrel.
I wonder how many cracks appear during shipping (I had one appear during shipping from CO to MO), and I wonder if the cracking happens less often in summer when it’s warmer. Could it be the metal cooling faster than the wood at high altitudes in flight or the dramatic temperature shifts if sitting outside being loaded into a plane?
Eric
No, all wooden flutes don’t crack. I have never seen a cracked Olwell, not to mention many other American-made flutes residing in America. There are plenty of antique flutes without cracks, too.
Yes, I think summer would be a better time for shipping flutes.
Jessie,
Rotten news about the flutes. I’ve been waiting for a crack to develop in mine since moving to the middle of the continent with no large bodies of water for hundreds of miles. I’ve a friend here in Calgary who has a couple of Sam Murray’s flutes without cracks. He’s pretty careful about controling humidity though, keeping his flutes in a flute-roll inside a ziplock bag. I’m a little less careful with my Hamilton, just keeping it in its case, and things are mostly ok.
Hammy brought it to Newfoundland last summer where the humidity is always right around 250% so the flute was right at home. Then I moved to Calgary where the humidity is pretty close to 0% through most of the year, sometimes creeping up to 5% after the one or two good dumps of rain we get annually. Since moving I’ve had all the rings come loose unless I keep a damp cloth in the case and re-wet it every day (it dries completely in ~24 hours). With the damp cloth the rings stay nice and snug, but if I get a little slack with keeping the cloth damp it only takes a few days for the rings to loosen up again. So, all of this shrinking and swelling makes me more than a little concerned about cracks developing but so far so good.
So as you expected, crack-free Murray’s do exist. I just wish yours was one of them!
All the best,
Wes
Well Jessie, you scare me!
I live in Canada and I’m waiting for a Hammy to arrive next june. I asked a lot af questions here before to buy asking about if it would be better to buy a flute from a place with the same kind of weather and a lot of people told me I was paranoid about cracks … but listening to you, it seems I wasn’t.
Well, I always keep my Copley at 70% humidity and hope it’s gonna keep it crack free! :roll:
Good luck with your fixing.
Thanks! Me, too.
Yes, I think buying a flute whose wood was seasoned in a climate similar to yours is a good idea. Of course, there are nice flutes everywhere, and it’s so hard to stick to one continent.
I’ve seen several cracked Olwells myself. But they were all flutes made out of boxwood or rosewood with unlined headjoints (i.e. no tuning slide). Of course, those are woods that are more susceptible to effects of moisture than the harder, more dense woods like blackwood or cocus. I’ve never seen a blackwood or cocus Olwell flute that cracked, lined or unlined headjoint. But I’m sure that one or two cracked ones exist somewhere. Proper flute care (namely constant humidity control) is very important. If you take a flute that hasn’t been cared for well and put it on a dry airplane at 30,000 feet, chances are that that will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and it will crack. Doesn’t matter who made it…
As I’ve suggested before I suspect that flutes should be shipped sealed with a note of the humidity level at which they were packed .
I am feeling particularly sick this week having found a Rudall & Rose headjoint cracked during a sudden change in the weather ( on the same day , I think , that I underbid on the ivory Schuchart flute - double misery ! ).My fault ,I suppose .
I raised the idea with Mr Wilkes yesterday that old and valuable flutes should as a precaution have the head tube removed ,and the bore adjusted for the shrinkage of 150 years to eliminate the risk of cracking.They should not need doing again .
I think the speculation about the makers drying/aging methods is a good direction. Hammy’s rarely crack (the one Jessie mentions is the first I’ve heard of, but I don’t doubt her), but every Murray I’ve known or heard about has cracked at some point; can’t speak on Cotters. Murrays are otherwise superb flutes, but I suspect the wood is often a tad green, unless you stay in Ireland 'til it comes round on its own.
So, I think it has less to do with coming from Ireland to the states than the way the flutes were made originally, and then it’s all in the way the owner keeps them; even the Murray I know about cracked more from an owner’s moment of stupidity than through any obvious fault of the flute. Olwells are made down south, no? Kentucky or something? I should think the moisture change from there to upstate NY or Canade, etc., would be just as drastic as from Ireland, but I understand that he ages/seasons them very well, as does Hammy.
Bad luck, mostly, Jessie – I wouldn’t write off flutes from Ireland; with two in a row, it makes me wonder what went on in the plane(s) on the way over.
Gordon
Yes, Gordon…I, too, wonder what happened to them in transit. All of my flutes are humidified, so it wasn’t anything I did to them. It is important to know, when ordering a flute, about the maker’s seasoning process and time.
If the air in cargo planes is anything like a passenger plane, it’s safe to assume that it’s bone dry. It might be a good idea for an inter-continental flute to be humidified during shipment, or for flight attendants to serve it mineral water frequently. As for Swiss weather, Jessie, relative humidy is on average around 60%-70%.
Micah
Both of these Irish-made flutes that were shipped to me had been living in America for years already.
I just got a Hammy today that has been in the US for two years, and it’s in perfect condition and is not acting as if it’ll crack at all.
That’s good news about the Swiss weather. Thanks. 
Aebi on your mind?
Micah
Indeed.
Murray flutes are very light, in the other hand Hamilton ones are heavy and thick, I suposse this is important in cracking.
Serafin.
Mr Wilkes seasons his wood for up to 14 years , but this gives no guarantee ( right Steamhammer ? ).I wonder if one can still post by surface mail from Ireland to the US .A shipboard journey would surely do no harm , and the intact flute would be worth waiting for ( One would hope ! )
Examples of weight, please? I have a 6-key Hammy (13 ounces with keys), and have encountered much heavier flutes in keyless and keyed versions. I am curious about Sam Murray’s flutes, which I’ve heard but never handled.
One of the reasons I selected Hammy to build my flute was his philosophy of construction. It involved a good stash of blackwood to begin with, and a process of allowing the flute to stabilize at various points during it’s completion. My flute spent a great deal of time as a block of wood with a hole in it, and I was in no hurry.
Kevin Krell
well, I never got the weight of any flute, but played several Murray flutes, and they are the lighter flutes I’ve played, compared to Wilkes, Hamilton, Grinter and Arhpa wich I played too. It’s only my experience.
Serafin.