I have a thing with boxwood lately… Here is a 8 key Goulding D’Almaine i recieved yesterday, and restored last night… Like the D’Almaine I had before, I am amazed how much power this boxwood flute has. What is also interesting, the head is unlined, and the slide was threaded into the wood!
I like the foot key linkage, with it going over the top of the C# key, fancy bending…
Still need to craft another long F key for it. I know, I know “Make keys, make keys” 
This looks like something a plumber would come up with! (kind of looks like a sink drain) Remember they came up with this design in 1820’s!
Here is what I had to work with!
Questions:
What do you mean, ‘the slide was threaded into the wood’?
Who is this maker?
How’s the tuning?
Curious about old flutes, ya know.
Hi Jim,
If you notice the second photo, you will see the mals slide, stuck fst onto the Head joint, and the little threading that screwed into the top of the barrel. Quite ingenious, but I guess it didn’t catch on. The late Andrew Kirby had a Monzani in ivory with this set up.
The flute is marked Goulding/ D’Almaine & Co. It is hard to say who actually made it. Potter also worked with them, but his name isn’t stamped, and which Potter?? 
The tuning isn’t that bad, it has the F# 30 cents flat and the E and bottom D about 30 cents flat also. Unjust tuninng to the max. This flute, like the one I used to have, is remenicent of a medium holed Nickloson’s Improved. I haven’t measured the bore yet to compare it with Clementi’s other flutes, it would be interesting to see any similarities.
Nice work Jon!
I may have a couple of old flutes that you’d be interested in. I recently scored an attic find of 3 old flutes. A boxwood (unlined) and two grenadilla (lined head). The boxwood (4 keys) is playable but needs work. The others, well, no is an understatement. The bore is quite small at the foot joint on the grenadilla ones (lots o’ keys), So small in fact that I would probably go for a fife or piccolo in this diameter. Really can’t imagine them to have much volume.
I’ll be keeping the boxwood one but I’ll drop you an email on the others.
(P.S. I’d post photos but I still can’t figure out how. I understand that I must host them some where else but am unsure about the code. If someone can point me to the idiot’s link perhaps.)
Well I am just about maxed out on flutes right now… You can post photos by going to www.imageshack.us , upload the photo, and then copy and paste the url that is at the “Hotlink for forums”.
thanks Jon (and Denny). I’ll give her a try. May take a bit.
…besides, I can quit anytime I want to.
…as he quickly and quitely scans the antique flutes on eBay, looking for a ivory Monzani, “then I will be happy”. 
tessstink… uno, doezz, trees, there is no flute, there is no flute…
or is there?
Yay! it works, I registered and tried their fancypants uploader for mac and no photos would appear in “my folder”… guess I’ll just go the simple route. Thanks a ton Jon and Denny.
You’re right Jon, boxwood’s the bomb, so light… this is a Firth, Son & Co. New York… couldn’t even make out the name until I oiled her up a bit. I’ll post more photos tomorrow. Anyone have and idea on the age?
Hi,
Nice, looks just like mine. The trick with the old unlined boxwood is to put them in a large ziplock with a humidity source i.e. a sponge in a baggie etc. Let the whole flute come up in humidity not just the inner bore. If you are playing it regularly, just swab it out and put it back in the bag or plastic storage container and the moisture in the flute will bring up the humidity in the container. If this is not done, it can result in the bomb exploding, as the in pressure of the wood expanding, meets with the outer unexpanded wood. The pressure builds until the outer layers of the wood crack. Tick, tick…
According to our expert Terry Mcgee’s website, it would place your flute right around 1863. It is no wonder it is a military flute, as that is right during the Civil War.
Thanks for the advice Jon, will do. I’m so psyched! I did the google and found Terry’s site last night. (Thanks Terry if you’re out there somewhere. Your site is so informative, the best… and I love the flutes of yours I’ve met by the way!) I had no idea that this was the type of flute Grey likes to play. I’m taking it slow, (more bore oil inside and out today) this beast is much different than the larger bore and finger holed Copeland I’m used to, but as you say, surprising power in a smaller and lighter package. This is the kind of find we all hope for. (traded a cheap guitar for the whole batch!). 
It had a crack:
but was in much better shape than this one…
This is a classic example of what Terry talks about with older metal lined heads and wood shrinkage… talk about a bomb. I think this one was Ivory. Couldn’t make out the top name, says underneath “Silver Set- Paris”
The other (metal banded) head as you can see was perfect, as was the Firth.
I’ve heard of folks using super glue (or beeswax for surface cracks) but knowing that super glue doesn’t expand and contract like wood, I opted for high quality carpenter’s wood glue. Hope I didn’t make a boo-boo. If you have better advice, I’ll take it.
I got so excited I started a whole comparative photo analysis of the 3 in this find to share, along with the Copeland, but it took so long (2 hours) that when I clicked “preview” I had to log in again and lost everything! (photo links, the whole bit). 
Won’t make that mistake again, from now on I’ll compose longer posts in my word processor. (take heed!!!)
I’ll probably try again and start a new thread.
Thanks again Jon, (and to Denny too, who e-mailed me a brief guide to HTML)
Update, just searched the site about cracks and found Jon’s advice here:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=47881&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15
It was a water resistant wood glue. The crack did not extend to the end… I’m thinking I did no harm, but not as pretty. You do amazing work Jon.
With bamboo it’s clamp (wrap) and wood glue for me, but the material is a bit more brittle, and the cracks are always perfectly straight along a grain. Like gluing the 2 halves of a guitar top together.
but was in much better shape than this one…
This one might need another head… I don’t even think I could rebuild this one! 
I’ve been doing this with my flute for the past few days, because it seems to seal better and sound/play better when I do. But it looks bone dry after it’s been out for a bit, so I’ve oiled it more. Is this what you’d expect?
Boxwood sucks up water like a sponge! I have had better luck with drying oil on the boxwood bores. Seems to last longer.
I found a photo of the missing key, here is what it will look like:
I wonder if it was supposed to be bent like this?
Oh… Mine’s cocus… It didn’t occur to me that the wood would make that kind of difference. I’m just perplexed by the fact that I’m humidifying it, and it looks so dry, but when I try to oil it, it doesn’t seem to soak much up.
Cocuswood is not as critical as boxwood. just keep putting on the oil until it has a shiney film on it. I find that the cocus is a lot dryer then blackwood, that has more more oil in the wood.
would it be possible to build a new head around the old metal tubing? or would it not be worth it.
That would be possible, but at that point you might as well start from scratch… New head and Barrel.