How much do you feel Oiling a flute effects the sound in a positive way? Drastically? Some what? Not much?
Somewhat.
It depends. If you play alot oiling the flute won’t change the sound that much. If you only play a couple times a week I think the oil, having sealed the pores (in theory), makes it easier to fill the flute with air, and thus sound better. It could all be in my imagination though.
Mark
I think it affects my boxwood flute noticibly and blackwood to a lesser degree.
Interestingly, Desi Seery recommends oiling the bore of his polymer flutes for maximizing tonal quality.
Doc
I have typically found that oiling temporarily robs a decent instrument of some of it’s “liveliness”.
However, sometimes poor quality or leaky instruments are temporarily improved by oiling, as it can tend to temporarly seal the poorly made or leaky bits.
Loren
Or pour a pint of Guinness through it. Apperantly, it works miracles.
Wow! I had no idea, you learn something new everyday. I wonder why that works? Is it that an oiled flute is, as I’m thinking, easier to fill? I’ll have to do some experimenting I think.
Doc, did that whistle get to you yet?
Mark
another weird question:
how long would it take for the avg. bore to absorb a good oiling? a week?
Usually it’s recommended to just leave it to soak in over night, the next day you should wipe off the oil which hasn’t been absorbed.
Inresting thread and as many views as fluters, I suspect.
Why is it when I oil and play the Boxwood flute I almost never see “moisture” collecting inside the bore but when I do the same with a Blackwood, the “moisture” rolls down and out in visible drops. Am I to suspect that the Boxwood is simply absorbing oil AND saliva at a much faster rate?
Similar reaction to Mopane: it seems to “absorb” much more saliva and almost never do I see droplets collecting and running down. Could it have to do with the smoothness (for lack of a better word) of the bore?
I’m not usually a “wet” player but do notice the differences described above. I suspect Boxwood and Mopane are both more absorbant than Blackwood.
How on this?
BillG
I have been wondering about the stability of Mopane compared to Blackwood for some time now. The fact that Mopane absorbs moisture at a much faster rate than blackwood sort of suggests that it is less stable, no?
Common sence tells me that a wood which absorbs more moisture is more prone to swelling and cracking. How much more durable is a blackwood flute compared to a mopane flute?
I’m not sure that the ‘fact’ has been established, Henke. According to this: http://www.prosono.co.za/english/Mopane-wood.html mopane is less prone to cracking and splits (though less than what they don’t say). Since the density of mopane seems to be around 96% that of blackwood, I think it would be hard to measure absorption rates outside of a laboratory.
I’ve certainly noticed no difference in the ‘drippiness’ of a mopane flute compared to either blackwood or delrin. Indeed, mine all drip like leaky taps in summer here, whenever the humidity goes up above 70%. Lately with the cold weather the RH has been hovering around 35%, and relatively little condensate comes out of the flutes as such times.
RH here in NY, Long Island, has been running between 40 and 50 %. I notice much more condensate from the Blackwood than either the Mopane or the Boxwood during this time. I don’t know why but that’s what is.
BillG
I’ve heard that in mopane the grain in the bore can ‘rise’, maybe the resultant ‘rough’ surface of the bore is clinging on to the condensation? Sadly the bore of my mopane flute has always been rough (tooling marks), so whether the grain has ‘risen’ or not I can’t say.
But since these are dense woods (oiled, too) I can’t see them acting like sponges and sucking up the condensation from playing. If that were happening, you’d end up with a bad case of wet-rot in your flute in no time at all.
here’s what casey burns has to say about that!
http://www.caseyburnsflutes.com/mopane.php
-I have three+ years experience with an unlined-headjoint blackwood flute, and agree with Loren i.e. oiling robs the flute of some liveliness for a time. My flute takes two-three days after thorough oiling to recover most of its inherent delightfulness, so I’m lax about doing it often. It does improve ease of hitting top of high octave, however, and stabilizes tenons’ end grains-helping to prevent swelling and potential damage.
-There is a long “sweet spot” period
between oilings in which tenons behave, tone is rich, high octave is more easily played well and all notes slide out easier. A look through the embouchure to the bottom of the unlined head shows either more or less sheen, and, if unoiled too long- a dry matte finish. The level of sheen compared with playing qualities will show the relationship between them, then it can be used as a regular checkpoint. Those with a lined head might sight across their bore through one of the bigger toneholes for the same check.
-Please note my experience is with just one blackwood flute and this works for me. -YMMV. Exercise caution in any case when oiling/not oiling your flute, and follow your maker’s flute care advice. 
Similar reaction to Mopane: it seems to “absorb” much more saliva and almost never do I see droplets collecting and running down. Could it have to do with the smoothness (for lack of a better word) of the bore?
Unless your playing technique is rather unorthodox, it’s not saliva running down the flute–it’s simply water condensation caused by the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the flute.
My mopane flute absorbs very little condensation…drops of it collect in the flute (or roll out) as I play. The bore is smooth and glossy. I oil it maybe twice a year. I’m not convinced the oiling does anything to aid the sound…I do it more for cosmetic/maintainance reasons.
Dunno, never oil my flutes. Plenty soggy here.
Watz up, Mr. K?
Surely it’s the temperature and RH difference between the players breath and the flute that is causing the condensation? At least here there is some real physics to guide us! (Sometimes discussions about the effect of X on tone, playability etc remind me horribly of HiFi buffs trying to decide what makes their kit sound better…)