The pix are great. Thank you.
Do you keep the whistle handy in case you feel the need?
Yes, you should never be far from your whistle!
Here are some more photos of the Peloubet restoration, sorry I missed some key steps, but it is the usual crack and ivory ring repairs…
The flute is awesome, BTW.
https://postimg.org/gallery/27vrh9y00/
Nice work! And great job matching the color and grain on the crown and stopper. With a little bit of darkening with age that will be about as close to perfect as you can get. By coincidence, I just spent the afternoon turning a threaded cork holder with decorative finial and threaded crown for one of my own flutes. It takes a surprising amount of time to produce, finish and fit such a small and easily overlooked part.
I’m not surprised to hear that this flute its a great player. I really like some of these American antiques. They tend to be very well in tune at modern pitch, much more so than many of the English antiques, and they often have beautiful quality wood. Most people seem to either not know very much about antique American flutes, or have only heard of Firth, Hall and Pond (together), but other makers such as Peloubet and Riley (both F and E Riley) made some really excellent instruments, as did Firth, Hall and Pond independently and in various combinations with sons etc. And just as not all “Rudalls” are identical to each other, there is also a fair bit of diversity in tone hole sizes and playing characteristics among these various antique American flutes. I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to it, but I’ve been thinking about trying to shed some light (pictures, measurements, and information) on this subject, based on some of the flutes I have had access to.
Yes, screw adjusting crowns are time consuming…
Don’t forget Asa Hopkins from Fluteville one of the innovative great American flute makers, also Pfaff made beautiful flutes.
The reason the wood was such good quality, England kind of got cut off, being the supply came from the Jamaican Islands or “West Indies” as the British called it. I believe the wood imports were ballast on the slave ships heading back to Europe, also the war of Independence might have cut off the supply. I have seen some of the most beautiful cocuswood used for the American flutes. I think the British were also substituting the real cocuswood with a ebony found in India, I have seen encyclopedia entries alluding to using a Coco wood from the “East Indies”, which they mentioned that they hoped was as good…
Wow. Looks amazing! And I am really pleased to hear that it sounds good too.
There’s a yellowish asian wood that I think the victorians in India were using for wind instruments and pipes, and calling “cocus” (because everyone knows that’s what you call flute-wood), although it’s not a Dalbergia at all. Before the Pakistani unstrument makers learned that irish flutes are black, you used to see yellow flutes show up on Ebay from time to time described as cocus. I think the term still has local use for that wood. One guy I exchanged messages with had no idea that there was a west indian cocus that isn’t what he called cocus. I wonder if that’s the wood your encyclopedia refers to.
I remember the write up saying it was a dark brown wood thus the “coco” or brown. I have restored a lot of English flutes over the years, and many of them were a brown wood, probably ebony, but not the real cocuswood. It would be interesting to test it in a lab. I know Madgascar ebony looks similar to cocuswood, but tends to crack easily. The German flutmakers like Meyer used Madagascar rosewood for his flutes…
I was reading your thread with the idea of recommending Jon Cornia for the repairs, but it looks like you’ve already gotten there. He does excellent work and has a wealth of experience.
Even gets a original era case for it, just finished the red velvet interior.
Wow. I hope whichever relative Hank decides to bestow this on appreciates vintage flutes. You’ve done great work.
I’m going to take a few lessons so I can learn which hole to blow into 
and maybe do a simple Christmas tune before I commit to where it might go next. It really looks good, doesn’t it. My mandolins will be jealous.
It looks great. IMO, God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen sounds really good on the flute, when you’re starting out. It’s at core a dance tune*, so it’s still interesting without words, and it has a cast-iron, 1000 year old melody that fits well on a flute or whistle without awkward accidentals.
Simple system (6 hole) flutes and whistles play best in D, G, & A - 1 to 3 sharps. With a 4 key flute, you have more options, but it’s usual to learn to play the holes before you learn to play the keys.
*A carol from the days when carol meant a round dance.
Congratulations and accolades, as usual, for Jon’s work. They always look like new when he is finished with them.
He also did some nice work on the Klemm and Brothers Boxwood that Sillydill has for sale in another thread. 
Best wishes.
Steve
Be patient with yourself on the Flute. Do not be disappointed if you can’t make any sound for the first xxx number of weeks. It comes around, eventually. There is some physicality involved (breath, posture & finger strength), but it is the embouchure that takes time.
I came to flute from whistle, so I had the tunes and the fingering fairly solid. Still, my flute journey took six months before I could make decent quality notes, and another six before I gained some consistency.
I had personal embouchure instruction at two critical points (6 & 12 months) to correct and encourage proper tonal quality. For that a classical flute teacher is just fine.
Yeah. A lot of embouchure is muscle tone, and there’s simply no rushing it. No amount of knowledge is going to shorten the process. It’s one of the reasons why I recommended getting a whistle. The techniques transfer directly, and it’ll bring you to pleasant music way faster.
The knowledge that you’re banking tunes and technique that you’ll be able to apply to your flute as soon as your embouchure comes round can keep you going through the frustrating months.
Wow. Flute and new old case arrived today via Priority Mail. Well packed and in good shape. The flute is great. Everything is polished. I can’t find the old crack. New adjustable end cap. New pads. New thread on the tenons. The case is perfect. Nice size, even has the original key. Very appropriate case for a 170 year old flute that looks not a day over 39.
I put it together and wonder of wonders, was able to get actual semi-musical notes. Played a scale. I may need to work a bit on expanding my repertoire. I am really surprised that I got some nice sounding notes despite my never having played a flute before. It must be a nice flute to be that forgiving.
Some photos:
Thank you to all you folks who watched and recommended Jon Cornia to do the work.
Special thanks to Jon for such a nice job and careful craftsmanship.
edit: I just looked at the ‘before’ pictures and see that there were two cracks to be repaired. I can’t find either one of them even though I know exactly where they were.