The previous thread about long and short F keys has raised a question in my mind. I don’t use the long F and the touch on my 1837 R & R is too close to the G# key for my comfort. I’d like to try to remove it and plug the hole with something that would be reversible and not damaging. I was wondering if any of the experienced repairmen in the group could advise me as to the best way to do this. I’ve seen attempts extending from chewing gum to wooden inserts. Is there a preferred way to do this? Thanks
Hey LibraryMan,
BlueTack (poster adhesive) is the easiest temporary plug. But I have also used hot-melt glue with success.
Best of Luck!
How about a wee leather pad or flute pad, fastened with some shellac? Cork would be good to I think although it might be a challenge to whittle down cork that small.
My first counsel (surprise surprise!) would be: learn to use and love it! If need be, try adjusting the relative rotation of the joints - turn the upper body (L hand section) in a little and the lower body (R hand section) out a little relative to each other and to your preferred embouchure rotation, thus moving the long F and G# touches apart. A very small adjustment will probably move the long F out of the way for operating the G# satisfactorily, without upsetting anything else, bar a few days of the set-up feeling unfamiliar. Mind you, I’m surprised you find it awkward, unless you have very broad finger ends. IMO one om the characteristic features of genuine R&Rs is that their keywork is usually pretty ergonomically friendly, within the general limitations of the overall design. Also, making a point of learning to use it may well teach your L4 to hit both touches accurately with controlled, relaxed and minimum/efficient movement rather than catching the long F in a wild lunge for the occasional G#!
Failing the above, if removing it really is your best option, getting it off should not be difficult. If the pivot pin has its little bent-back crook on the end, simply grasp that with the tip of a pair of narrow-nosed pliers (preferably parallel jawed, but ordinary will do), cautiously twist it a few times to ensure it is loose but being careful not to catch the wood with the plier tips, then pull it out making sure you do so in a straight line. If the hook is gone and the pin is flush to the block both sides, you need a piece of stiff wire or some other probe which is slightly thinner than the pin to use as a pusher to get a mm or two of it out for the pliers to grip. An un-bent paper clip held in the pliers about 5mm from the end can serve well. But be very careful not to slip and scar the wood, especially if the pin hasn’t been out for ages and is stiff. Once extracted and the key easedout of its channel, put the pin back in the block (if it’ll stay in tight) or through its hole in the key and then store the key carefully (pin through key in snap-seal bag etc.). (My biggest reservation about doing this is the long term risk of losing the key! For goodness sake put it somewhere safe, but the safest place is ON THE FLUTE!!!).
Key removed, you can then block off the tone-hole in one of the ways already suggested, though I’d be inclined to vote against wedging anything into it, even cork. Beeswax or cheese wax or even paraffin (candle) wax would be ok to (partially) fill the hole, or just use a blob of blutack over it. Mind whatever you use doesn’t protrude into the bore (hold a piece of dowel against the aperture into the bore if wax filling. One advantage of blutack over the hole/pad seating is it protects the seating and hole rim from damage.
Get used to it. You’ll lose that key. Remember you merely paid to be its caretaker. Keep it intact. It will be around long after we are all gone. 
And remember, replacing a key like that could cost c £200 or so, if you can find anyone to do it. (Chris Wilkes quoted me that to make a sterling silver one for an antique I have which has indeed lost its long F…). Most modern makers charge at least £100 per key for their own flutes/designs, let alone matching an old one as a one-off.
Yes I have fat fingertips, I’m uncoordinated, disorganized, and too old to learn to use a long F key. But I’m not too stupid or stubborn to see that Jem and Aanvil are right., I agree the keywork and block placement is pretty user friendly and all the keys move quite smoothly. I’m going to practice getting that G# key efficiently and, thanks to the encouragement, think I can. So, the key stays where its been for some 175 years. Who knows, maybe I will eventually find it to be very useful. I’m glad I asked before acting hastily and thank everyone for their response and especially the cautions about messing about with things.