My first flute

Irish Flute
1

I’ve been meaning to post a picture of this. Here is the first flute I ever made, from sometime in the fall of 1982. Its based on a Grenser Baroque flute, turned in black walnut from a tree in SE Portland. I never made the Eb key for it. In the few years before this, I was making various tools for violin and fretted instrument makers such as soundpost setters and fingerplanes.

I met Doug Steinke, an oboe maker living part of the time in Salem, Oregon and part of the time in Holland. His had trained his father, who was already an experienced machinist, to turn the bodies of his oboes. Since I was doing metal work for instrument makers, he got me started making the simple brass sheet metal keys for his oboes. Doug would bring both bodies and keys to Holland where he would then fit, reed and tune up everything. One day I got brave enough to ask him if he could teach me how to turn a flute, and he invited me down for a one day tutorial.

I was a little hesitant at first, as my only experience with a lathe was in a school shop, and trying to rough out a 4X4 piece of Douglas Fir. The gouge snapped out of my hands and forcefully impaled the wall behind the lathe. It could have just as easily impaled me or my old friend Felix, the UofO shop supervisor who was standing behind me at the time, who said “You’re done” immediately after. Fortunately, I found turning wood on a metal lathe to be much more to my style, as the tools were fixed to the lathe. Hand tools occasionally fly out of my hands still!

I put the call out into the ether that I really needed a lathe, despite having zilch to fund it. Weeks after a friend asked if he could park his dad’s old Craftsman lathe in my workshop, so that he could use it occasionally and I could use it as much as I wanted. He was tired of lugging it around from one living situation to another. For me, it was what I needed for my flute making career. I started making flutes then and paused only to build a house in the early 90s. 30 years later I am still at this, and still enjoying this path. Hopefully I’ll be at it for at least another 30 years.

Casey

2

Very cool. Did you just plug the bottom hole if you never made the key for it or move on to a keyless model right away?

3

Moved right on to keyless. Somewhere I have flute #5. Its kind of a horrible looking monster. I’ll post a picture soon.

Casey

4

thats great Casey, when did you switch to flutes for ITM? was it an order or you wanting to play ITM? who were the “big name” makers at that time?

5

I was already aware of Irish flute and whistle playing, as well as the Baroque flute market. At the time I was living with two other folk musicians, going to dances and concerts on a regular basis, and listening to folk music. It was in a time in my life when I was sort of done with classical music. Pretty soon my flute making caught the attention of some local players and teachers, who allowed me to measure up some antique flutes including Rudalls, and who gave me constructive criticism on my early attempts.