I have a Blackwood grinter. I have a couple questions. What is the best way to swab the bore after you are done with playing to get the moisture out (should this be done). What is the best way to swab the silver tube in the headpiece. What is the best way to oil the bore? Should I wipe off the outside of the flute after playing and what cloth would be best? What I mean by best way, are their any tools, gadgets, special cloths, best way to get cloth into bore since it’s tapered etc. Thanks in advance for everyones help.
It’s good to see another Grinter owner. I’ve got an unkeyed blackwood D myself and it is superb.
As for maintaining the instrument,why not e-mail Michael about it himself?
By the way, Kevin Crawford, Mike McGoldrick, Jean-Michel Veillon and Brian Finnegan are all playing Grinters these days 
Best,
Chris
Well, well, well…
Look who’s still alive! We were starting to worry about you Mr. Laughlin. I’m guessing you’ve either been busy with a new job, or a new girl.
BTW, Where did you hear that Brian has switched from Wilkes to Grinter flutes? Must be a recent development…
Loren
A new girl 
Hmmm… where did I hear about the Finnegan switch?? Honestly, I can’t remember, and I really could be wrong about it… but I think I’m probably right.
Everyone knows about Kevin. As for McGoldrick, I read an interview with him in which he mentioned switching to Grinter’s flutes and he also credits Grinter on his newest album. Michael Grinter told me about Jean-Michel… so there we have it.
I’ll let you know if I find out 100% about Finnegan.
I’ll try and write you a decent letter one of these days Loren and help solve the Grinter mystery.
By the way, there is significant variation between Grinter headjoints.
Best,
Chris
One of the best and easiest ways to swab a bore (and particularly a tapered one!) is to get a piece of string longer than the flute barrel; tie on a small weight on one end (a metal nut will do if you a bit of tape on it to cushion it) and tie the other end to a the corner or a silk handkerchief (or similar piece of soft, absorbant cloth).
Drop the weight through the bore and then pull the cloth through.
When I oil a bore I generally use a gun cleaning rod of appropriate lengh with a .45 Calibre brass cleaning jag screwed on the end. Soak a cotton gun patch with bore oil and run it through the bore. If you wish, you can then run a dry patch through to blot up any excess. There will probably be enough oil on the dry patch to treat the outside of the flute, but this is more for cosmetic effect than for necessity in my opinion.
Mal
I’ll offer my experience, but my first tip is to always contact the maker (if still living) for advice.
You can purchase a cloth on a weighted string for cleaning (used for clarinets/flutes/&c) to do the anti-moisture swabbing. If you purchase two, you can oil the other one up and use it to feed the interior/bore of your flute. Just oil it up well and run it through a few times. I store my oil-rag in a pill-bottle when I’m not using it.
There are also cotton swab things that look like giant pipe-cleaners called ‘padsavers.’ That is the brand name of one of the manufacturers. They are great for swabbing the barrel when you are finished.
Always use pure sweet almond oil. This is my opinion, but it is generally shared by most makers. Never use a steel/silver/metal rod (such as a gun cleaning rod or metal flute rod) to swab the barrel. Even if you are careful, one small accident can mean a deep scratch and change of tone. There are wooden versions of these rods if you do not feel the swab-on-a-string or padsavers will work for you.
Another tip: If you have keys, be sure to remove them before oiling. Either that or put an absorbant, thick piece of paper between the pad and hole. You don’t want to get oil on your pads.
Dionys