I got a flute being delivered this week… old German flute. Very excited about it.
However, for safety I had it delivered to work. I walk to work- it’s about a mile from home. I’d probably be taking it home wednesday evening- expecting a low of 15 for that day. I could arrange for someone to pick me up, but would it be safe to carry it home (in a pistol case) in the cold?
Check this out:
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/temps.html
Cheers
Graeme
If it were me I would put
the pistol case in my coat in some secure way, so that body heat would keep it
warm. Terry’s experiment notwithstanding, I would not walk
home with the flute exposed to that low a temperature. Better
safe than sorry, especially with a flute you’ve never seen.
If the flute gets cold, let it warm up gradually.
Go pick up one of those thermal/cold lunch bags and toss a warming gel heat packs you used for warming hands in pockets in there.
You live in Chicago, I know you know what those are.
A thermal lined bag may be enough to keep the temps averaged out though.
Its just a thought.
Oooh, nice idea. I know we got some of those bags around. Thanks 
Might the flute be quite cold upon delivery? The probability of its having sat in a cold delivery vehicle for some hours is high. I would follow the advice already given and add that perhaps it would be wise to leave the flute in its case inside the warm house/apartment for a day to allow it to warm slowly. I know this would be hard to do with a new (to you) flute, but I’d surely hate to have it crack on you due to a sudden change in temperature.
Frankly, I wouldn’t worry about getting a wood flute quite cold, nor in keeping it quite cold.
I’ve kept numerous wood flutes at temperatures reaching -20 F, and even colder than that, no problem.
Trouble, however, could happen in a too sudden warming of a wood flute.
Warm it ever so gradually, and, if need be, use your hands to warm it up.
Then, play it.
For cryogenic preservation purposes? 
lol
As it happens, I live in a very old house, one with a bare minimum of heat, mostly in the downstairs kitchen.
I store my flutes in a cabinet in my upstairs bedroom, a room which in the winter can easily get to ~ -20 F/-30 C.
Yes, a glass of water could freeze solid, overnight, and could also break the glass.
Yes, I sleep there, and so do my flutes, no problem.
Actually, we are all doing quite well!
BTW, I leave the window cracked open all year, just to have some fresh air.
I am no expert, but what kind of wood is it? If it is African Blackwood, then I think it should be fine. Just by my own experience though.
A flute with a metal sleeve, in the barrel and/or in the head joint, likely won’t crack at sub-freezing temperatures, and that’s because metal “shrinks” at a faster rate than wood. However, the opposite is also true, that metal “expands” faster than wood, which is why it’s ever so important to ever so gradually warm a flute, before any attempt to play it.
If nothing else, warm a flute in your hands, completely, from tip to toe, before playing it.
It has a toe? 
lol
OK, maybe I should have said, from head to foot.
I’ve seen it.
Don’t horse play around the radial table saw is all I got to say about that.
Yes the rate of thermal contraction/expansion would be higher for metal than wood, given metal’s higher thermal conductivity, but the coefficient of thermal expansion for wood is higher. Still the real question is just how much dimensional expansion/contraction is there?
Let’s assume we bring a room temperature flute to the freezing cold, i.e., 68degF → 14degF (or 20degC → -10degC). I measured one of my flute liners and it is 0.7846 inches (19.93mm) OD and appears to be made of stainless steel. Following the example here:
dl = (8x10^-6 in/in degF) x .7846 in x (14 - 68 degF) = -0.00034 in
In other words, the liner does not effectively shrink at all. The coefficient of linear thermal expansion for oak across the grain is about 3 times of steel. But again, you multiple -.00034 in by 3 and you get almost negligible change. So there you go, Terry’s limited experiment pretty much validates the math. But I doubt either will bust the myth.
math = teh kewl
