Hi, I just received my new win from ebay, a Hays 8-key in rosewood or cocus, I dont know.
It’s a lovely little flute with not bad tuning except the b is sharp, which I can remedy with shellac. but also the f is very flat. Question is, if I very slightly enlarge the hole from below, will it have an adverse effect on everything else?
I don’t know about the retuning, but if you just got it I’d give the flute some time to be well played in and moisturised, and also give your lips the time to get used to it. I wouldn’t touch any of the holes before that…
F# often works considerably better with an F key open on the old flutes.
Yes, it will sharpen the second octave g. Best to just use the long F to vent it like Gabriel mentioned.
I third that. The maker expected the player to vent both the Eb key and one of the F keys for F#. See most period fingering charts (see sticky, or resources link in my signature). Congrats on getting it. I had a snipe on it, but it went above my limit. Looks nice.
Where the rain gets in?
Thanks for all the good advice!
I need to clean out the bore, as there is slight build up of stickiness, probably a hardening oil. I normally use almond oil, so I need to get a nice clean absorbent surface.
Cocus won’t really absorb any oil, you know, but you do need to clean out any old accretions of linseed. Meths and cotton rags usually do the trick, but extreme gunginess may require a strip down and washing-up liquid and bottle brush and warm water. The purpose of any oiling thereafter is not penetration, which won’t really happen, but surface waterproofing. I’ve taken to treating flutes I overhaul with Renaissance Wax. I suggest moderate rehumidification of a dry, long-unused flute after cleaning and any repairs, then wax or oil it to seal it - and almond oil isn’t especially good at that.
Aw, I was gonna say that too!
Thank you for the tip about Renaissance Wax Jem! I sure it has been mentioned before but I must have missed it. One more great use for one of my favorite products.