Thought I’d start with a general question: how many of you bother with fitting counter-springs? A couple of my antique flutes have them, and I quite like the action achieved.
Next, where might a man (or baste) acquire some of the tiddly little screws used to mount such springs? I’ve got a small stash of spring steel, and am keen to have a go at fitting a few counter-springs myself, in the few spots where they were omitted. Any advice appreciated. Cheers,
Rob
Watch-makers’/clock-makers’ supplies? Or cannibalise some from defunct spectacles (arm pivot or nose-plate screws) - even cheap market stall shades usually have some such, and most of us have some broken or no-longer-used ones of those knocking about, don’t we? Or ask a friendly optician - most opticians’ shops will probably have some spare screws, I’d have thought…
Come to that, back-plate or internal mounting screws from old wristwatches, tamagochis (sp?) and other mini digital gadgets would also do, and again, most of us (especially those with kids) have such lying about unless we are very good at de-junking our houses (and if you are, just ask friends or colleagues). You also then need tiny drills and maybe drill taps… (might get away without tapping in wood). Drilling the spring steel may be “fun”, especially if it is already at the width you intend to use it!
Failing the cannibalisation approach, I did manage to get some Bohm flute spring screws from Windcraft (GB) a while back, so I guess Ferrees would probably do them in the States. They were relatively expensive, mind, (55p each, if I recall aright), so the recycling approach would be best. After all, you don’t need a specific guage as you are working from scratch. Just as long as they have a small enough head (to not get in the way under the key) and a long enough shank (to hold in the wood) and you can get fine drills for slightly larger and slightly smaller than the shank diameter (larger for the hole in the spring, smaller for the receiving hole in the wood into which the screws should self-tap), you’re in business.
Good luck!
Argh, drilling spring steel…that will no doubt suck. As for the screws, size/thread numbers would keep me from having to think too much. Any idea there?
Rob
I don’t think it will matter if you cannibalise, though I’d suggest avoiding anything with a very fine thread as it may not grip well in the wood. Some of the electrical ones and cheap sunglasses ones are relatively crude (for their tiny size) and would be ideal, I’d think. You only need to think technical if you’re going to try to buy from specialist suppliers. Just have a look at one or two of the originals you have and then look for something similar. Not much thought needed!
You can avoid drilling spring steel by buying ready made steel leaf springs, of course (Ferrees etc. again), and then trimming them to size, but the holes in such tend to be quite big and you may then have a problem with screw head size unless you buy the screws to go with the springs… and then they may be a fit problem under your keys/in your key slots.
If you have a friendly woodwind repairer you might be able to get both springs and screws cannibalised off defunct clarinets or oboes…
Rob,
I use Ferree’s screws numbered C16C5 in their catalog. They are listed as a Selmer clarinet flat spring screw. The thread is 0-80, and I generally use a thin washer between the screw head and the spring. Ferree’s also sell a flat spring hole punch which makes 0.06" diameter holes. If you PM me your address I will send a couple of screws and washers so you can see if they will work.
Dave Copley
Loveland Ohio
Dave, you’re a star. PM on its way. Cheers,
Rob
OK, I held out long enough. What are counter-springs? 
Cheers
Little springs that are attached to the wood flute body that push up towards the key. The flutes I’ve seen that have them, will also have springs pushing down, attached to the key, so the two springs push against each other. You can see an example on Chris Wilkes website. Follow this link, and click on picture #3. The counter-spring can be seen under the G# key.
http://wilkesflutes.co.uk/Site/C%20flutes.html
Best,
Jay
They were termed “double springs” in the old days, and were touted as a signficant advance. Given that previous practice was simply a brass spring bearing directly on the wood, they would have been! A brass spring on wood soon digs a hole, and then the operation of the key becomes unreliable.
The idea is you have a brass spring rivetted to the keytouch, and a blued steel spring screwed to the wood underneath, both arranged so that their tips meet. When you depress the key touch, both springs are intended to bend by the same amount. Both are curved, and as they straighten out, instead of brass spring rubbing across wood, both spring tips move in unison, and so friction plays no part in the equation. The keys can be light and snappy in operation, rather than heavy and grainy.
What is puzzling though is that I think in at least most of the old flutes I’ve seen (and that’s rather a lot), all the steel body springs have been squashed flat by the heavier brass spring, and only rise from the surface of the wood when the key is removed. That’s not the intent I outlined above, and presumably not the experience of the flute maker. The key still works fine, but the steel spring is now just working as a striker plate. Still far better than wood!
I wonder if this is the explanation for this seeming conundrum. Brass is softer than steel, and so the makers, anxious that the springs should have equal strength, made the brass springs considerably thicker. With the passage of time, and several hundred thousand keystrokes, the steel weaked a little, and the brass work-hardened a lot, until the brass forced the steel down to the mat. Fortunately the keys still work fine, though probably not quite as nicely as with an operating steel spring.
It’s possible too that the makers became aware of this, certainly later flutes have abandoned the practice. It remains a nice idea in theory, but would need to use spring materials that do not work-harden.
Another amazing approach I have seen to the question of eliminating friction was to have tiny rollers in the ends of the springs. Come on nano-technology! In the meantime, remember to put a spot of grease on the tips of your springs every 6 months or so. Your keys will thank you for it!
Terry
I have seen a couple of old flutes with the the second spring still working. In fact my old 6 key William Henry Potter has the original second spring on the Eb, works great! They are most useful on the short keys that have little leverage, reducing the spring tension, by splitting the pressure up between the two springs. This makes the key have a softer touch.
I made my first replacement second spring on a old flute, the other day, using the above mentioned technique, punching the hole, threading the wood and using a 0-80 flat head screw. I like Dave’s idea of the washer, I will have to try that next time.
You have to look carefully to make sure that the steel spring is actually working as a spring - they are pretty well hidden in there at the bottom of the slot. It’s not enough that they pop up when you remove the key, you need to prove that they aren’t squashed down when you replace the key. X-ray would be handy!
Thomas Lindsay wrote in 1829:
“The springs of Keys should on no account be too strong; and from the readiness with which the improved DOUBLE SPRINGS are found to act, they are, though a little expensive, entitled to a most decided preference.”
But when I check the double springs on my T. Lindsay Improved, alas, they are all operating as single brass springs with the blued steel springs pressed to the wood. They still work magnificantly - light and snappy. I wonder if they ever worked better?
Terry
Great, thanks for the explanation. Live and learn. My 19thC french flute has little metal insets where the spring meets the wood, so there’s none of that “hole digging” that Terry talks about. Is that not normal?
It is common but not universal or even consistent on a particular flute. For example, The K Prowse I have just done up has only one (brass) strike plate, for the short F, likewise the anonymous flute with “AL” keys I did recently, the Metzler I have and another similar anonymous flute with an “F” stamped key: this is, I think, not unusual. The Eastes/Fentum I am working on has (steel) strike plates for all keys save the long F and the low C and C#. My Rudall & Rose has double springs (probably not working as such as Terry describes) for all the short keys (Bb, G#, short F & Eb) and steel strike plates for all the other keys. A variation on the strike plate is, of course, the fully lined key-way (really a “saddle” inserted in the slot in the block).
Interesting, thanks.