Clean, Oil and Adjust
The flute is entirely disassembled, and the body, head and foot are put in a warm bath for cleaning and tarnish removal. After washing and drying, the flute is polished by hand using a special polishing cloth. The three pinned sections are disassembled, and all the mechanism tubes are cleaned with Acetone to remove the old oil. Then the sections are re-assembled with fresh oil, and any of the pins would be replaced if they aren’t tight any more. The Head Joint and Foot Joint tenons may need to be fitted more tightly if necessary. The pads are cleaned and tested for complete air sealing quality. Each pad will be measured with the Leak Meter to determine if it needs further adjustment, and the pads will be checked for air leaks, and the pads will be shimmed to remove any small air leaks. The Right and Left Hand sections are assembled on the flute together with the Thumb Keys, and all the adjustments between Dependent and Independent keys are adjusted to make everything close perfectly together without leaks or lost motion, which is corrected last by adding or removing cork from the Kickers. Finally, everything is re-assembled with fresh oil, and the flute is tested again with the Leak Meter and the flute is play-tested to complete any work that may still be needed.
Complete Overhaul
The flute is disassembled and cleaned as above, and the tenons are tightened as needed. With a solid silver flute the dents and scratches are removed from the tubing of the flute first with a “Burnisher” and then with fine sandpaper (if the flute isn’t silver plated). The pivots are all checked for visible wear showing side-to-side play, and then the pivots are made tighter by taking a small amount of metal from the posts where the Pivot Screws are seated. Any keys that may have play will have the tubing stretched to remove the side-to-side play (not possible with plated flutes). When all the surfaces are cleared of tool marks, the bore of the flute is polished, and the whole flute is polished in the buffing machine using Tripoli on the scratches or sanded areas, and then after cleaning the whole flute is polished using Rouge. The whole flute is cleaned in the Ultrasonic machine and dried. Now depending on the type of pads being installed, the key cups are prepared with Stabilizers glued into the cups to give the pads a flat surface. The Tone Holes are checked with a light inside the flute and a perfectly flat Gauge, and they are ‘leveled’ with fine honing tools to make sure the top surfaces are smooth and perfectly flat without burrs. Then the padding process begins with installing new pads using just enough shims to make the pads touch both in the front (6 O’Clock) and in the back (12 O’Clock). After finding the right number of full shims, each pad is carefully checked for fine leaks with a .0005” Mylar strip between the pads and the tone holes, and all the small leaks are shimmed with thin partial shims until the pads are giving the “Feeler” a slight resistance when pulled out from under the pads when they are closed with very little pressure. Then the keys are carefully adjusted to close together by adding fine shims in the clutches. And finally, the keys are all fitted with cork or felt to adjust the exact amount of opening so they don’t have “lost motion” when the Independent Keys are used to close the Dependent Keys. Usually the larger corks on the D#, the Trill Keys, and the Head Joint Cork are also replaced. Then it’s play-tested and any further repairs that may be found are corrected for perfect operation.
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Landell Flutes LLC
322 Main St, Wampum
PA 16157 USA
Phone (724) 740-1093
jonathon.landell@gmail.com
“There are over 180 handmade Landell flutes in silver and gold,
and one prototype flute in titanium. Innovation has been my hallmark.
Hard work has been the means.”
Jonathon A. Landell