Dried-up Head-cork

Irish Flute
1

I primarily play my Olwell bamboo now and seldom pick up my Dixon 3-piece. When I went to play it I noticed the cork had slid down into the embouchure. I removed the head and end-cap then covered the embouchure with my thumb and blew the cork out of the head.

The cork is pretty dry, obviously. Can the cork be re-humidified or do I need to get a new one? I don’t have any wine corks kicking about or I would just try replacing the old cork.

Cheers,
Aaron

2

I would put some cork grease on it, then store it a while with a damp sponge nearby.

Home made cork grease: Melt beeswax and cooking oil together in a double boiler. About 50-50, adjust to desired tackiness.

3

Hmm, then the cork grease would seal it and keep the humidity out! :slight_smile:

I’d use a bottle of wine. Just cork the bottle and keep it upside down for 6 months. Or even better, drink the wine and use the cork that came with the bottle.

4

Just drop it in a glass of water overnight to rehydrate it. If that doesn’t work, hardware stores, at least in KC, sell corks (I noticed this just the other week).

Eric

5

:boggle: Just don’t put any on the flat part, that area shouldn’t contact anything in the head (unless you have a Terry McGee).

6

“Cork” is made from the bark of a Cork tree and will respond to a boiling water bath or steaming. This will soften any wax sealer and allow the cork to re-hydrate.

Loosen the “nut” on the bolt before steaming/boiling. Tightening this nut expands the cork sidways to “set” the plug in the headjoint, so you want to “give it room” to expand while re-hydrating.

Measure the internal bore diameter and use it in the formula

7 D/6, 7 times the product of the Diameter divided by 6

This will give you the “octave compromise” distance between the center of the embouchure and the inner plug face. Mark this on the end of a cleaning rod to help you “set” the plug. Insert it inside, until the line is centered in the embouchure.

7

I just fixed a loose cork couple weeks ago. I boiled the cork for 5
minutes in a pan of water. It was then way too fat. I let the cork dry out
for a couple days. Then sanded it a very little bit with my trusty nailfile
(not recommended - better to use fine sandpaper in your hand and twirl
it round the cork to keep it even). Then greased it real good and shoved
it back in. That worked.
Cheers, Lesl

8

Thanks for all the tips. I gave the cork a boil and now it’s just swell :smiley:

Cheers,
Aaron

9

Boiling the cork: good idea!

But then I don’t have an excuse to go get a bottle of wine. :cry: