I have not yet owned a cork tenon flute but now I do…I would like to ask what I should do if a tenon is too tight and what to do if it is too loose?
berti
Depends, first you need to know how the cork fits when properly lubricated, which used instruments usually aren’t, so I suggest you do the following:
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Wipe all the cork grease/lubricant (and any solid buildup) off the corks, tenons and out of the inside of the sockets. Wiping (with a papertowel or rag) alone may not be enough - if all the build up doesn’t come off, you can use a little paint thinner on a q-tip (be careful not to let it drip all over your instrument as it can lighten the color a bit if left on)
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Dry everything off
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A.Check the dry fit: If the corks are too loose at this point, they need to be replaced. You could wrap a little dental floss, or thread around the cork to make a temporary fit, but you must be careful to use only enough to hold the joints together, don’t go overboard or you may crack a socket, and don’t forget to use some corkgrease etc.
or
B. You’ve cleaned the sockets and tenons and the fit seems too tight: First lube the tenon with cork grease and check the fit. If the joint slides together with a little effort (use a twisting motion), and things don’t wobble, then you’re good to go. OTH, if you have to struggle to get the joint together, STOP. Now grease the socket as well as the tenon and see if the fit is better. If so, you’re still okay - the cork will compress naturally over the next few playing hours (assuming it’s natural and not that crappy composite cork), and soon enough you’ll only need to grease the cork itself, rather than both the cork and socket, each time you assemble the instrument.
or
C. You’ve lubed both the cork and socket and you still have to struggle to get the thing together, STOP, the cork is too damn tight. 
If you have a lathe and point centers…well, of course you probably don’t. You can try a little hand sanding of the offending cork, but realize you will probably scratch the heck out of the tenon and then have to sand that as well, but really sanding is what needs to be done. Best if you can have someone properly do that job for you on a lathe. Alternately (in a pinch) you could lightly sand the inside of the socket…but it’s really not recommended unless the grain has raised substantially in there, or there happens to be some other irregularity that could be causing a tight fit.
Hope this helps,
Loren (man of a thousand corks) B.
Or just get rid of the cork and wrap your tenons with thread as God intended!
Just kidding. Don’t do that unless you have to. But you could, you know…
P.S. I realized I should add the following: For anyone who reads this and happens to hand their instrument over to a friend, or other non-woodwind maker/repairer for sanding on the lathe - you must tell them to be EXTREMELY gentle when mounting a woodwind between centers! It takes VERY little pressure to crack a tenon this way. The alternative is to do the sanding with the instrument section mounted between cup centers, but rarely will non-instrument makers have the right size cup centers to do this. Again, it is my suggestion that if you have corks that are too tight, return the instrument to the original maker, or to another reputable maker to have the corks sanded.
Also, just as an FYI: Properly fitted corks will last much longer if you store you flute dissassembled. Leaving corked joints assembled for extended periods of time causes the corks to compress and get loose, permanently.
Best,
Loren
For those reasons, when the cork in my flute gave up, i replaced it with thread instead of trusting the repair shop i know with re-corking it.
IIf you never ever had a corked instrument, the cork tenons may feel tight (i.e.: tighter than the usual fit in metal flutes or threaded tenons). A cork tenon should be tight, but not too much. It should be able to connect without using brute force, just a gentle twisting motion.
g
Thread lapping is for Lamers 
, properly corked joints rule. 