I received a flute a while back (for free), but there is a problem with it. The end cap is firmly stuck in the head piece. Not where it usually should be but IN the actual airway. I presume I could take this to a professional to repair but I wondered if anybody knows of a way I could easily do this myself?

Thank you for any replies.

I suggest you check first if the cork is still in the right place (use the mark on the cleaning rod if you received it). If you do not have the cleaning rod, you can use a long wood stick inserted from the tenon side until it touches the cork; mark with a thin felt pen the center of the blowing hole on the wood stick and then measure the distance from the short end to the mark. Post the results.

If you can check the cork is where it should be, and the headjoint works OK (you can get a good sound of it) maybe you could leave the crown where it is, as trying to fix it could do more harm than good. If the cork is not in the right position or the HJ does not work properly, then it is most probably a job for a technician, I am afraid.

I had assumed that being stuck "in the air airway" could be at either side of the embouchure hole, but now I think you may be right; somehow the crown could have entered the tenon side and got stuck there.

But I have tried with my two flutes (Yamaha and Gemeinhardt) to fully introduce the crown at the tenon side and it is impossible. The crown border is far, far too big to enter the tube without destroying the tenon. On the Yamaha there are a couple of millimeters difference; the Gemeinhardt M3 has a smaller crown and it could perhaps be inserted with a hammer, but then the tenon would be ruined. Or may be it is not the crown but some other metallic part?

The best would be that Kuma clarifies the point, if he/she is still following the thread....

Another suggestion (put to consideration of the technicians): heating moderately the HJ at the point where the crown is stuck, could dilate the tube enough to let the crown (or whatever it is) fall by its own weight?

In this case Kuma does not risk bending the tenon border nor has he/she to tamper with the cork assembly to insert the dowel (if the cork doesn't get burnt, yes...)

I was not intending to sound funny, but sometimes I fail to get it through

Never mind. I might be getting too much paranoid.