I recieved a brand new emerson flute two days ago (intermediate model) as an early christmas present. it plays BEAUTIFULLY ( i really reccomend emerson as an alternative to the higer priced yamahas ) BUT, i have one question. the tenon on the footjoint is fairly stiff and to get it on and off i have to exert probably too much force, and am probably risking bending something. just wondering what i could do to get rid of this, i guess its expected because my clarinet gave me the same anxiety at first, but i just used cork grease, which i know is not reccomended for flutes. Oh, and, for the first time, my high e comes out easy (well, not EASY, but its there and its not as difficult to get out) but NOW my high F# is hard to get out. Any suggestions? thanks!

well as to the joint stiffness...it is ok to use cork grease, but i recomend not using much or the end wil litteraly slide right off.

Cork grease isn`t recommended for flute joints because after it is applied, it collects dirt and really jams up the joints as well as having the dirt and gunk abrade at the joints. It works fine for clarinets because the cork fitting is somewhat spongy and can give. It also soaks into the cork and keeps it soft and pliable. This isn`t possible on a metal flute joint.

I would try cleaning the joints, inside and out with a damp(not soaking wet) cloth. If this does not help, your flute needs to go to the doctor and have a repair person adjust the joints. It`s fairly easy fix and not costly. Much cheaper than having the repair person fix something you bent on the mechanism from a joint that is too tight.

Other suggested fixes for this in the past have been a light oil or rubbing some graphite from a pencil point onto the joints but I don`t recommend either of them.

You know that the joint should be fairly tight so that there is an acoustic seal between the two sections but not so tight that you are afraid of bending something. The joints should slide when fitting them together. If the joints "kick" when you are turning them, they are dirty and need cleaned.

~Bilbo

Quick and easy. Take a pencil eraser and use it on the tennon. It will take off a bit of metal. It works like a charm. Of course do just a little bit at a time.

thanks kara, how much should i take off, how will i know when to stop if you know what i mean

your great by the way. flight of the bumblebee in an airport?! thats just

its just great

Thank you.
Just do very little at a time, then try your footjoint on. Keep doing this till it fits. It shouldn`t take much.

From my experience of may people doing a wide range of such things, I know that a great deal of damage can be done to the tenon by what is mentioned above.

Many cork greases will introduce so much `grip-slip` friction that the joint will be a lot more difficult to putt together, and even MORE to take apart. Indeed the metal surfaces can bond to eachother that the metal surface is torn in order to disassemble. NO LUBRICANT OF ANY SORT, unless you REALLY know what you are doing.

Kara, the eraser idea may have worked for you, but you are playing with fire! Any trace of grit on the metal when you next asssemble it can embed the grit in the metal, so it forever scores the mating metal surface every time you assemble the joint, greatly compounding the problem. Very difficult to correct!

Technicians have specialised tools especially for shrinking flute tenons without ANY abrasive being used.

I highly recommend doing nothing until a tecyhnicianjs adjustes it, probably while you wait. It would probably take no more than one minute.

Ed, that is why you wipe off the tennon before putting it on your flute. I didn`t mention that because I would think that anyone with half a brain would think to do that. I have yet to see damage done by doing this.

so if i take it to my local repair shop, what do i say? i just got this flute and the footjoint feels way too tight, and im using too much force to get it on there. is this something common, and easily fixed? i have little to no repair knowledge, so i dont want to go in there and sound like an idiot

thanks

That is a very common scenario.

Certain waxes/greases MAY indeed help, but by far the majority of them run a high risk of what I described. If you wiped ALL of it off, the effect would be non-existent, but in reality, you cannot wipe it all off, microscopically. And the problem is all to do with the `grip-slip` phenomenon (similar to the `squeaky-clean` phenomenon that lubricants have, most of them to quite a high degree.

If you REALLY want to try something yourself, them use candle wax. NOT the beeswax type candles, but the plain, white, paraffin wax type. Rub a few lines of this along the tenon. Then assemble, disassemble and rub off `all` the wax from tenon and socket before trying them for fit. This wax has the property of lubricating with low grip-slip when under strong pressure, and also has sufficient viscosity (stiffness) to sort of `claim space` between the two metal surfaces, forcing them to slightly separate.

The risk you take is that the joint may be made too loose, so you will then need to return to the technician to get the tube expanded, again with highly specialised tools.