As the title says, I am looking for bodies for an Olwell headjoint and barrel I already own. D, Eb, C, can be Pratten or Nicholson…anything made to fit the standard Olwell HJ/Barrel configuration. Boxwood preferred, but I’m open to whatever comes my way as I realize I’m not in a position to be terribly picky in this instance.
Please give me a shout if you have an extra Olwell body that’s not getting much use that you might be willing to sell.
Thanks.
Loren, on June 1 “Chas” wrote this on a different thread:
“Jim, I have both Rudall and Nicholson Olwells, and the heads aren’t interchangeable. However, they’re from very different vintages; the Nicholson is pre-serial-number, while the Rudall is about seven years old. The sockets are different sizes. I’ll measure the bore diameters and see if they’re the same.”
I’m wondering if there is actually a "standard’ Olwell HJ/barrel such that you’d be able to match yours to either Pratten or Nicholson (or Rudall for that matter). Maybe someone more knowledgable could say. Just as a precaution ya know.
When my keyed body was nearing completion, Patrick had me send him the 11 year old HJ for fitting.
woodfluter,
My experience with Olwells has been that, generally speaking, the Prattens and Nicholson style flutes he makes have the same diameter barrel socket size. I say this having owned both models at the same time, and I’ve also swapped bodies/headjoints with friends at gathering to try different combinations of materials etc. I have heard before, as Chas mentioned, that Pat’s small hole model is different in this regard.
Makers will nearly always ask for the headjoint back in order to get the BEST fit and tuning with a new body. Even when you make things “to spec” there will be some variation, and also the wood of the barrel socket may have moved a bit since the flute was new. Finally, and often the main issue, is simply making certain the cork on the tenon that goes into your current barrel will fit properly. So while a maker can make the body to spec and there is a 95% chance everything will fit and work fine, the cork may be too tight, or too loose on the body/barrel connection if the make doesn’t have your barrel to while doing that corking of the top tenon.
I should add that I have no knowledge about whether or not the interchangeability I have observed with Olwell Nicholson and Pratten models has always been so over the years. In addition, I am not saying that one can simply expect any Olwell body to fit any Olwell headjoint, as variations to some extent can, and do, happen during the process of making instruments by hand.
Thanks Loren, everything you said makes sense and was what I suspected re custom fitting a new body to a headjoint.
Just wanted to make sure you knew the chances of success.
It’s interesting to see that he’s standardized the socket to tenon dimensions across different models…some a least!
Still looking.