I am going to have a go at making myself a flute-having recently got some reemers made up.i was wondering would anyone know where to buy some silver tubing for the tuning slide and lining…and what to ask for regarding size.Any help would be great
I use 20x0.5mm brass tubing for the headjoint liner and 22x1.0mm german silver tubing for the barrel liner/sleeve. The numbers are “outer dia.” x “wall thickness”, so you get an ID of 20mm in the sleeve and 19mm in the headjoint liner, which is what most makers use (if they use metric tubing). I wouldn’t recommend to use real silver tubing for the first flute(s), as it is hard to find and dead expensive (a single barrel sleeve with the measurements I use costs more than 50 euros). Actually I wouldn’t recommend to use real silver for that at all, it’s just expensive and doesn’t add to form or function (a silver sleeve is ok, though, if one really wants it and has the spare money available).
Sources - I don’t know where you are, so no idea where to get that stuff. I have two companies in Germany that are selling good quality metal tubing in brass and german silver, and I have a jeweller’s supply store that offers 22x1,0 real silver tubing, but I have no idea where one could get the headjoint lining. The makers that use silver for the liners are pressing their tubes themselves IIRC.
Just do a google search for “brass tubing” or something like that - that’s what I did when looking for german suppliers and I was successful.
Thanks for the response,the advice will help greatly.I am in Ireland so the european suppliers should be handy.cheers Barry