Ok, the little cork grease thing says “apply sparingly”. Seems subjective to me. How much is enough? What will happen if I was to put on too much. This has been bugging me for a while and I never got around to asking. Hoping I haven’t shortened the life of any cork lapping yet.
First, if you use too much the worst that will happen is that it will pushed down to settle in where the two pieces of the flute come together and ooze out. Or maybe, evennnn, prevent the two pieces from closing completely.
I usually run the cork grease agound the cork a few times then smooth it out with my fingers to, 1) assure it is all around and 2) assure I didn’t miss a spot.
Often I use Badger Balm and that is applied with my fingers as there is no tube.
BillG
Use just enough that you can run your fingers around the cork without it feeling sticky. If you notice a buildup on the end of the tenon or (more likely) in the corner of the socket, scrape it out and start using less. Something like vaseline or chapstik works just fine, too, and may have less of a tendency to build up.
That build up in the tennon corner annoys me so much. Use enough but not too much. If you us too much just slide the joint on a a little and wipe off the excess grease.