I have a friend in Ireland who wants to send me a flute (Blackwood). I live in Canada where the temperature has recently been dipping to -15C nightly, with daytime highs around -8C. The answer may be obvious, but, in opinions out there should I wait 'til temps are a little more ‘reasonable’ to minimize the possibility of damage to the wood/flute from these low temps? I can’t guarantee that the shipper would keep the package at reasonable temps. Any thoughts/experience would be helpful. Of course, I can hardly wait for this flute (this is my problem), but if I have to wait I guess I can - it will be tough! Thanks everyone.
You might find Terry McGee’s experiment interesting. Check here www.mcgee-flutes.com/temps.html for his take on the temperature issue. I must note that I have not tried to replicate his experiment.
Low humidity seems to cause a lot more problems than temperature changes. In cold weather the indoors humidity will be a lot lower (20% in my house at the moment). So when shipping you need to assume that the flute will spend much of the time in heated dry locations, and try to protect against that. I give the flute a final oiling before packing, and then put the flute (in its case) into a giant Ziploc freezer bag (the 2.5 gallon size with the sliding zipper). A dampened piece of sponge also goes into the bag, arranged to that it will not directly contact any wood. Then I close the zipper most of the way and suck all of the air that I can out of the bag - a sort of poor man’s vacuum packaging! After that it’s into the shipping box and ready to go.
Hi Dave. It used to get really dry in my house too, but I had one of those humidifiers added to my furnace and it keeps things at at least 40% except on the coldest day. My shop however is heated by a heat pump and it just sucks moisture right out of the air. My humidity gauges can’t even read that low and just go blank. So I don’t leave instruments I’m not working on in there. Anyway, those furnace mounted humidifiers can be awfully helpful. Steve
It depends on how well seasoned the wood is.. I have been dealing with unheated wood shops for fifteen years, and anything made from unseasoned, or for any reason unevenly moist woods, will be greatly effected as they pass below the freezing point. This is because water expands as it freezes, so as the wood freezes it will warp and crack. (I’ve had some bad days)
Now I make sure any wood that might have any dampness; sits by my wood stove for a couple weeks before it heads out to the shop.. Once it’s evenly dry, the wood can freeze and thaw without damage.
I would NOT suggest putting it in a plastic bag with a sponge… if anything.. a very dry bit of fabric..
If it is nice and dry, the freezing should not effect it.
