So I’m fixing up a Blackman Bb band flute that matches my eight key Blackman.
The unlined headjoint has some cracks and checks in the grain none very large or leaking much. I am just going to fill with cocus dust and superglue.
How do I mix the dust and glue effectively?
I just replaced the headjoint cork as the old one was falling to bits.
It sounds brilliant and as an added bonus appears to play well at modern pitch. (well with the old cork I could play along with Bb clips)
Despite having no slide.
The pads are sound and it appears to be almost brand new the nickel is shiny, doesnt appear to have been played much.
I enjoy playing band flutes more than piccolos and they go for peanuts on ebay.
Still looking for a Blackman piccolo though if anyone has one.
If you try to pre-mix the wood dust with the glue, you’ll just get lumps of glue/dust mixture! What I usually do is put a small amount of dust into the area I am filling and then very carefully add drops of the runnier, most capillary-action friendly superglue I can get using a pointy tool from a manicure set for accurate application (drip of glue on tool…). I suppose if you care to risk the glue in a hypodermic that would work ideally if it doesn’t instantly clog the needle or glue up the plunger! Small, repeated/progressive applications are best. I sometimes also line up a linear mound of dust alongside the to-be-filled feature, then drip in the glue and push the dust in onto it, maybe adding some more glue on top and pressing the mixture in to place/tamping it down with the metal tool - with relatively large amounts of glue floating about, you have a few seconds before it sets. Excess mixture on the surface doesn’t matter - it’s easy to remove and clean up afterwards, and you actually want it “proud” to finish down for an optimum near-invisible result. I sometimes find when I clean down to the target surface that some extra application of dust & glue is needed to fill any pits or places where the glue didn’t fully run through the dust.
A note of caution, though, especially when working on cracks/splits in an unlined head: you will not be reinforcing it by gluing it back on to a metal liner, so it may be wise to consider pinning/“stitching” to stabilise the cracks before gluing/dressing with glue & dust as there is some risk of in effect fill-forcing the cracks open.
I concur with Jem about filling the cracks and mixing dust.
But think pinning is an abhorrent practice!
I’ll also add, to remove the “proud” glue once it has set, use a knife to gently scape off the excess. I often use the back side of the knife (use the blade up-side down) to scrape the glue (if this edge is square it works well). Then I just polish the area with steel-wool.
Thanks Fellas,
That makes perfect sense. I was thinking of how to do it. Premixing obviously wouldnt do it. I was thinking glue first then dust but I will try both ways. little at a time.
The cracks seem like surface cracks and are along the grain. They don’t seem to go all the way through and the tenon is not affected so I don’t think the pressure of the socket is adding to the issues. So no pinning for me. That may be a bit beyond me as would milling out and glueing in new wood.
Thanks again,
Band flutes, the poor mans antiques!
I’ve found that it helps to make the dust as fine grain as possible. I use a needle file on a block of cocus wood to generate a small pile of dust, then put it on the crack and work it in dry using my fingers. Compact as much dust as you can in the crack until it is completely full, then run some extra thin super glue into it. Its important to use the really thin stuff. The thin glue will soak all the way through (thats the capillary action Jem’s talking about) and set up almost instantly. You’ll have some excess on the surface but you can scrap this off down to the bare wood, then rub down with extra fine 0000 guage steel wool. Once you’ve done that you can rebuild the finish with whatever is appropriate to the rest of the flute (various kinds of waxes, or French polish).
Thanks fellas. I used a toothpick to put in the glue with the dust piled up on the side and tamped it in. Nearly invisible finish and not too bad for a first try I think.
Another question, any tips for getting pins out of blocks. A few months a go I busted a block trying to remove a tight pin? Never had this problem with big flutes but a piccolo I have and another band flute they seem real tight.
also any tips for reviving old springs (non coil)?
I have read all the repair threads in the past but just getting into it myself.
I’ll be reviewing them all over again.
No real tips on pins - maybe some penetrating oil or WD40 onto the pin ends might help, plus a suitable pusher tool if the crook has gone. You have to be very careful about angle of push and not to slip. Once you can grasp an end, twist them more than you pull them to work them out, and again, pay attention to alignment. What makes them tight is verdigris around the metal (corrosion product) in the hole. Heat might help too - soldering iron point to end of pin - but I haven’t tried that! I have a couple of times dealt with stubborn ones by putting the joint in a vice (buffered in the vice jaws, of course) and then used a suitable thin probe and tapped the butt end with a piece of wood to “start” the pin until it could be grasped with pliers.
Springs - flat, tempered brass leaf springs will either be OK (after a good clean), or they’ll need replacing. If they’re OK but need adjusting for fit and strength of action, careful bending with suitable pliers will be OK. If they have metal fatigue they won’t keep the strength setting and will keep getting weak. Usually they snap while you’re trying to adjust them (if they’re not partially snapped already), but I’ve come across a couple which didn’t snap or have cracks but simply would not stay as set nor did annealing and re-tempering fix them - they’d just given up and had to be replaced. Obviously snapped ones have to be replaced. There’s old stuff about that here and in my Facebook photo albums of restorations.
