I have a couple of thoughts and observations on this . . . if you’ll allow me to share them.
The crack thing is tough, and I would be willing to bet (as an observer and not as a maker) that sometimes it’s just in the timber. I’ve got a friend who makes instruments (not flutes) who has told me that sometimes a billet of (wood name here) that’s been sitting around seasoning for years will crack once it’s been made into an instrument part. He says he can’t tell what timber’s going to do it, but if one piece cracks, often other pieces from that log/billet/whatever will crack.
The other aspect, the seasoning time, is probably as crucial (and we have more control over it). I really think it’s something to think about when folks are all excited about a flutemaker’s short waitlist. Unless that maker’s got turning squares lying around with holes drilled in them, that have been lying around for (literally) years in relatively stable conditions, the timber used is just going to shift and or crack, unless you’re lucky. Our expectations on the amount of time it ought to take to make a flute are perhaps unreasonable.
This goes along with what a lot of you have said.
How many people ask about a maker’s timber stock when ordering a flute?
Also, there’s something else that also sticks in my craw when we talk about Ireland. It is just plain uncommon, even in North America, for houses to have much humidity in the winter, for one thing. Regardless of the ambient outdoor humidity on the Emerald Isle, inside, where people are actually making the instruments, it’s DAMN dry. When I got my Cotter, which was my first real Irish flute, Eamonn told me he’d kept it in the kitchen next to a pot of boiling water to emulate the humid conditions the flute would experience in East Texas. The flute didn’t crack. Just because it’s humid outside doesn’t mean it’s going to be humid inside: in fact, it usually means the opposite will be true when heat is involved. Heck, I run the A/C in Houston to get the humidity indoors below 80%. In the winter, when I have to heat, it dries off to a parched 50% RH indoors. North America’s a big place, some of it wet, some dry. Ireland’s a big wet place, but indoors, in winter, it can be REALLY dry.
So . . . hmm. I think it sucks when flutes crack, but sometimes, it’s in the cards. I think Andrew (et al.) are right on the money when he/they suggest that instruments be shipped in something like a Ziplock bag, or with something else as a moisture barrier. The RH on an airplane, in the hold or in the passenger cabin, will drop below 20% really quickly. Who knows about oiling. And, despite the salvos from both sides, I really don’t think there’s evidence to suggest that lining a barrel makes it crack. Unlined flutes crack all the time (lots of cracks aren’t in the headjoint, too). I oil a lot because I don’t think it hurts. And, here in the frozen North, I keep the flutes in a room with a humidifer, and keep the RH of the room up around 50%.
Stuart
, so I have a bit of a head start on acquiring seasoned wood. Perhaps Mr. Aebi was fortunate enough to be in a similar situation - and I certainly wasn’t dissing him, just having a bit of fun with the topic. 