Hi everybody,

can anyone help my pity headjoint??

here are the photos

http://pinky9394.simpload.com/IMG_0643.jpg

http://pinky9394.simpload.com/IMG_0639-.jpg

is it repairable??

and what do you think the estimated cost will be??

Go take it in to a flute repair tech and find out. We can't tell you how much it would cost as not all repair techs charge the same price.

yeah...I think I really need to meet repair tech shortly.

but do you think the crack is affecting the sound quality?

The sound shouldn't be affected but do get it sorted asap. If the crsck moves & there are sharp edges you can muck up the receiver on the body & they are a pain to smooth of completely & they can even need replacing if badly scratched - that is if it is possible to get a replacement for your model of flute.

I agree that the crack must be repaired as soon as possible if it is repairable, indeed it is really unbelievable that the crack just made by a cloth with cleaning rod!!!

What make & model of flute is it?

Hum.. cloth and rod damage? doesn't look like that... Can you be sure nobody was "playing" with it or let it fall when you were not looking?

Well...it's Brannen gold headjoint...
I'm sure nobody was playing with it or let it fall, as I never lent my headjoint to anybody else,
so I'm wondering why the metal can be weak like that...or it's the quality problem of the maker?

I notice that you appear to have it in a headjoint case rather than a flute case. Is this the headjoint that came with your flute? Did you buy it new or used? The reason that I ask these questions is related to resizing a headjoint to fit different flutes.

Gold is very malleable and usually can be worked without cracking, but gold headjoints are typically thinner than silver. If the tenon has been resized several times since it's manufacture or if it was over-expanded, shrunk, and expanded again, it's possible that the metal became stressed enough to start a crack, especially if there might have been a small nick in the tenon edge. It's also possible that sometime in the past, the tenon was bent or creased where the crack appeared. A severe bend, dent, or crease can be removed and with some very light sanding and/or burnishing/polishing of the area, it would be nearly imperceptible to an unsuspecting buyer. However, that type of damage could have weakened the metal and then when expanding it to fit another flute, the formerly creased area began to crack.

Another possibility is that it is simply a manufacturing defect. It would be worth contacting Brannen to see if they would consider repairing or replacing it (especially if you bought it directly from Brannen rather than a third party). Because most flute technicians will not have experience with repairing a crack in a gold tenon, Brannen would be your best option for repair, regardless of the cost.

It is used haedjoint, and my headjoint is very loose when I put on silver flute body,
so I really don't know what happen in the past...maybe as you said the tenon has been resized several times

Also do you mean it will be really costly to repair the crack?

I've done similar repairs on nickle silver and sterling silver headjoints. This involves silver soldering (brazing) the crack and then smoothing it out so that it is perfectly round (inside and out) and smoothly but firmly fits the receiver on the flute. Both the headpoint and flute should be sent to the shop so that it can be properly fitted after being repaired.

This type of repair is usually performed on a time and materials basis with almost all of the cost being labor. Most local shops labor charges are between $50-75/hour and a repair of this nature would probably require somewhere around 1-2 hours. Again though, because this is gold, I highly suggest using Brannen to do the repair because most local flute technicians simply don't have experience performing this type of repair on a gold headjoint. Brannen's website indicates their repair rate is $90/hour, so I would guess it would be around $200 to do the repair, but you would really need to get a quote from them.

Thank you for everybody's valuable opinions on this matter.

So finally I have contacted with Brannen and the following is the reply from their headjoint department:

"Thank you for the very good photos of your headjoint! I am quite sure that you did not cause this crack with your cleaning rod and cloth. It looks like there was some stress in the metal that was just waiting to happen, unfortunately. I am not sure if this can be repaired, but I may try to do it if you would like to send the headjoint to me. I can not promise a successful outcome; I can only try to fix it. I would call you with an estimate of the cost before I do anything. If the crack stays small, it would probably not affect the sound, but it is difficult to know this for sure. I believe that the biggest problem right now is that the crack could possibly become bigger over time."

Indeed I'm hesitated to send my headjoint to them, since they couldn't give me even an estimated quote for repairing. And the shipping cost should be quite expensive! So under this circumstance I may prefer to observe the crack for liitle longer and if the crack really become bigger I will have no choice to let them repair, do you think it's a better solution? or I should repair it as soon as possible?

There are other possible solutions to this problem. All of them mean something extreme but workable.

Since it's loose already, Sleeving the tenon is the most logical solution.

Notching the headjoint around the crack is another possibility.

Besides what has been discussed already, there may be at least one or two more possible fixes.

Joe B

I do not know how far you are from Brannen factory; but that HJ should be costly enough so that the shipping costs, even for a repair budget, should be a small fraction of its costs. Sending it to them still seems to be the best alternative.

I believe Brannen has reacted as many if not all manufacturers being pointed out for a defective unit normally do: first cover their backs (usually with possible "misuse" or abuse out of their control) and then offer a possible solution, without giving guarantee it will be a successful repair.

The problem is to decide whether it is more risky to send it to the manufacturer and face the costs of shipping (and eventually the repair costs) or finding a silversmith with good hand (and good will). And then a flute technician for the tenon adjustment....

I would go the Brannen way, if the shipping costs are acceptable. Otherwise better buy a new HJ or use it as is, for the time it lasts.