A customer recently asked me to add keys to her flute’s foot joint. She experimented with a keyed flute that I loaned to her and decided that she wanted a little platform to rest her pinkie on. I tend to just keep my little finger up in the air when playing a keyed flute so personally I don’t find it that useful but anyway this is the result:
What a great solution! I’ve been pondering how to do this myself, as this is a common need with foot joints with just the Eb key.
Nice and sharp looking keys by the way. Cast or forged?
Casey
Thanks Casey,
largely filed and soldered, no actual forging involved. I make them from 2.5mm nickel sheet , cut filed, folded , ect.
I make them from 2.5mm nickel sheet , cut filed, folded , ect.
Silver is soft and easy enough to work, but nickel I’d imagine it’s quite a bit harder, no?
Yes silver is much softer, (IMO) it’s too soft for this type of keywork. I do forge keys from silver for block mounted flutes.
The advantage of nickel silver is that you can make complex and delicate keywork that still has good strength.
Forgive me if I’m being dense, but where is the pinkie rest? Is it the piece of metal underneath the C nat touch, roughly opposite the Eb key’s cup? Looks bizarrely awkward to me from a use point of view, though elegantly done crafting-wise.
Also (you’re all expecting this), what the devil’s the point when the R little finger should be on the Eb key most of the time?! (Yeah, the customer is always…)
I do think your keywork is very attractively stylish, Dom. 
Yes, it’s the blob bellow the C/C# touches, that’s where she wanted it.
The flute was originally keyless so playing with the Eb key open tends to make the E a bit sharp.
I have found myself putting my finger on it, looks a bit far down the instrument to be comfortable but it’s not bad.
Always venting…
Best wishes.
Steve