And leeches…
Truth be told, Pat Olwell is about to send me a nicholson body
and then also a six-block pratten body with three keys.
There are rumors that I’m going to have to
pay for this.
Geez, it’s beautiful though, isn’t it. I hope somebody
we know gets it, but I probably s/he will be
on the other side of the Big Puddle–where
Euros are cheaper.
Well the getting should be fun!
It’s always nice to meet a good new flute. 
Hammy says, in answering a question on e bay, that this is a cone bore flute
and that intonation is generally an issue on such flutes. Anybody
know what a cone bore flute is?
‘The tone of the cone bored instrument, being much richer in overtones and harmonics, is much more suited to traditional music.’
Yes, thanks. What threw me was the claim that tuning is always an issue with
such flutes. Hammy says this in answer to a question about intonation concerning
the ebay flute.
Contemporary cone bore flutes by good makers are usually pretty well in tune.
Hammy is offering to send people a recording of him playing the Willis,
so they can estimate for themselves.
Ah, well, ah
Better that a sax or an oboe maybe but nothing like a Boehm 
I would say that the key work looks more like a Prowse then Willis. Willis used flat key cups. The short F touch and the other odd key, are round shaped, this was also done by Firth, Hall and Pond flutes. Look at this flute in the Dayton Miller collection DCM0246
http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?dcm:6:./temp/~ammem_Hx9C:
Willis didn’t make Short F keys like that, the Willis/Goodlad I worked on, and the two that are in Dayton Miller collection have a bent touch on the short F.
DCM1075
http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?dcm:2:./temp/~ammem_HMC4:
With that said, it looks like a rare, and very cool flute!
I’ve been corresponding with Hammy. He sent me
an MP3 file of him playing the flute, which is
astonishing–though doubtless the fluter has more than
a little to do with that. There is, in any case, no discernible
problem with intonation. Wonderful sound in his
hands.
Hammy added: ‘Note that the flute is not actually by
Willis, it just reminds me very much of his work.’
looking at willis flute dcm1075: appears to have saltspoon cups ; similar cnat and g# keys, and it has same d#/ c#/c keys as hammy’s anon flute. whereas prowse seems to have different foot arrangment; yet rings and short f# key touches are similar to prowse though. interesting fllute. i like the short f# setup- seems versatile.
The world will never know…
I rest my defense on da fence. 
Hi All,
Just spotted you were all talking about me and the flute. Reason I compared it to a Willis was that at the time I was restoring this anon flute I also had a Willis Fecit George Rudall in the shop, and the foot joint was almost identical, as was the finger hole sizing and spacing.
Interestingly, this one actually played better than the real Willis, both in terms of tone and intonation.
Willis was a really interesting maker, and one interesting feature of his work is the great variation in styles of workmanship from one flute to another, even the George Rudalls show a lot of variation in this regard.
All the Best
Hammy
