When I read about Loren’s cocus flute I was reminded of his allergic problems. Some months ago I had similar problems as I became allergic to blackwood. Hammy Hamilton made a silver lipplate for my flute and it works great. I can now play my flute for hours without any symptoms. The plate is very thin and its edges are very smooth, you can hardly feel them. The silver covers also a part of the inner rim of the embouchure hole, so my lips don’t have any contact with the wood.
Hey, that’s very cool that Hammy was able to do that for you, and I’m glad you were able to get relief: Patrick was unable to offer lip plates as an option or retrofit at the time I asked him. I’m not crazy about the look or feel of metal plates (I’ve tried wooden flutes fitted with them) but if you can’t the instrument without one, it’s certainly the lesser of the two evils!
Loren
The lipplate is incredibly thin, it doesn’t change the general shape of the flutehead. It feels very comfortable to the lips, even very natural now that I got used to it. And it makes me feel “safe” as I’m no longer afraid of getting swollen lips.
God save Hammy! 
Claudine, what’s the wait for a retrofit like that? I’ll be needing that, too.
Nanohedron, you will have to ask Hammy himself if he has time to do it. He seems to be very busy. I had to wait about 2 months before I could send him my flute. The work itself took 1-2 weeks. I paid 200 Euros (which included shipping costs).
That’s nice, Claudine!
Of course, personal preference does enter into things. I have a cocus flute with a banded embouchure (see pics over on the flute porn thread) and I have to say that, since it’s sterling silver, I don’t really mind it at all. The craftsmanship of the plate or band is very important, I think. This one has absolutely no step-up between the band and the timber.
And silver’s nice to have your lip up against. Just different from wood.
But then, I don’t have the allergy problem (yet, knock on rosewood).
Stuart
Maybe you could try something cheaper in the meantime…
John Skelton plays an Olwell cocus flute even though he’s allergic to cocus wood. He told us Patrick advised him to paint the embouchure with SuperGlue (yeah, for real). His flute has a big, shiny swatch about 3" wide around the hole. It’s a bit slicker than usual, but not so much it really interferes with playing the instrument. He says when it wears off, all he has to do is repaint it, and if he wants to take it off, a light touch of steel wool does the trick.
David Copley can make a great flute head out of a white plastic which looks a bit like the old ivory heads. Plays well also.
Dave Parkhurst