In your opinion and experience, what is the best material to use for key silencers? What do you consider to be the highest quality felt to use or your favorite in general? I like the material that Miyazawa and Burkart use and other handmade flutes. I know that there is a specific name for this felt. Do you know what it is? I know that Landell prefers to use cork for the kickers and I asked him why and he said,
"Yes, I do use cork for the kickers, because it stay in adjustment very well. The felt becomes thinner and thinner while you practice, and so the adjustments change. The keys open more and more, so the pitch goes higher and higher. You don't notice it because it happens so gradually!"

Makes perfect sense! The only down side I see from using cork is that it may be noisier.

Anything else on flute materials etc. that you would like to give your input on, I would be most interested in reading.

Here is a most interesting series of pictures and descriptions to go along with them of a flute Jonathon Landell worked on.
I really like the idea of him drilling out the center of the adjustment screws and adding a plastic like tip on the end of them to make less noise. Great idea!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=128541&id=675889544

For those of you that may not be familiar with Jonathon Landell I encourage you to visit his site..
http://www.landellflutes.com/

I highly recommend him for repairs! I have yet to try one of his lovely handmade flutes but hope to in the near future.

Nowadays, there's several different materials now available for key silencing. In addition to the standard felt and cork that you mentioned there are also new materials such as synthetic felt and ultra suede. IMO, all of these seem suitable for that task. Personally, I don't use cork much anymore for general key silencing. I do use still use cork for the trill and Eb keys. I find that standard cork is more prone to damage when cleaning a flute, wiping off fingerprints, etc. If a cloth rubs against the edge of the cork, it can tear or chip fairly easily. I prefer felt for kickers and some adjustments. There is also a material called tech cork which a high quality composite cork that is gaining favor among repair techs because it is more durable and does not compress as much as regular cork.. Likewise, many of the manufacturers use felt for these applications and it seems well suited to the task. I have not noticed that felt compresses enough to affect adjustments except on keys that are affected by a rubbing action that causes wear to the felt over time. If felt compressed significantly over time, it would show up in the key openings. I use a key height gauge when adjusting flutes. My personal flute has felt on the kickers and in over 10+ years of use, the key height is still spot-on. On kickers, felt seems ideal; it's quiet and durable. On the Bb thumb linkage to the Bb key, the rubbing of the key action does seem to cause some wear to standard felt. Synthetic felt seems to last a bit longer here. I haven't tried it yet, but ultra suede might be good for this application.

J L Smith sells several types of felt material: Valentino, synthetic, standard, and firm. Each may have advantages in certain applications. Synthetic felt is a premium felt costing three times more than standard felt, so I tend to reserve it for pro flutes and the Bb key where wear is an issue.

http://www.jlsmithco.com/SHEET-FELT
http://www.musicmedic.com/catalog/products/supp-us100.html
http://www.musicmedic.com/catalog/products/cork-200.html

Thank you for your response and the links! I was just browsing the JL Smith on line catalog. I would really like to get some of the synthetic felt. I have a Jupiter student flute that I like to play around with that I am making some modifications on just to customize it for me.

Yes, Kraus! Suzie was trying to think of the name of it or where to get it and that is the name she came up with.

If you look in the link provided, Landell told me he used black hat felt I got from Stetson Co. Interesting!

"No offence, but perhaps Landell is out of touch with this material!"

I don't think he is out of touch, I think it must just be a person preference. Landell is a master flute maker/repair tech. I really don't think there is much that he wouldn't know about! As I understand (and please correct me if I am wrong) Joe. B studied under him.

I am trying to make this student Jupiter as quiet as possible. The thumb key seems to be the worst. Thanks so much guys for all the great information!

Okay, now on to oil. Do you use thicker or thinner type oil and why? I have been using doctors products oil. I also have some very thick oil from the Muramatsu company that came with a Muramatsu that I used to own.

Yes, I was aware that Kraus is a supplier, not the brand. Kraus is just what I was saying that Suzie remembered, but thanks.

I alway disassemble the entire flute and take out any of the old oil before oiling. It is easy enough to do. The new Brogger system is loads of fun taking apart on my new flute!

Kate:If you look in the link provided, Landell told me he used black hat felt I got from Stetson Co. Interesting! Micron: No offence, but perhaps Landell is out of touch with this material!

Hat brim felt is what it is specifically and is probably the best for it's application because of it's workability. It's quiet and the stiffness can be controlled to a degree for it's purpose.

The Boston Flute making tradition, goes down to the garment district After trying lots of things on kickers, I still usually end up going back to this stuff.

There are cheap alternatives available from places like Hobby Lobby or Michael's craft stores. The craft felt, (not the regular felt) they sell works almost just as well and can be treated in similar fashion to suit your purpose.

I have to ask Ed what stuff it is exactly that he sells. We talk quite often.

Joe B

the finest felt made is actualy made by akubra here in australia and is made from 100% rabbit hair.
Akubra felt hats have been reputed to be the finest felt hats made.

i would think that the very finest oil's avalable are actualy used in watch makeing and there is a number of diferent oils with individual specifications depending on what area its used to oil ie: cogs, rotor, ballance wheel, and weight in automatic watches as on average the weight will do in excess of 30 mill revolutions between services acording to Maurice Lacroux, Jager Lecoltre, and Rolex of switzerland 3 of the finest swiss watch brands avalable

100% rabbit hair! Interesting! I should be able to make some myself with the way my rabbits are shedding right now. lol!
Here, bunny, bunny, bunny!!! Akasha just ran!

Another case for synthetic felt?

Most of the semi rigid craft felt is pressed acrylic fiber from what I can tell.

Joe B

I have tried using the craft felt that I purchased from Hobby Lobby, but it ended up being too mushy and wore down fast. Perhaps I didn't get the correct kind?

Kate, Don't get the stuff that is soft. There is another section where they have the felt precut into stars, circles, etc. You can buy the flet in square sheets there in a bunch of colors and patterns too. They are usually in a rack and sold individually. You can hold these horizontally and will stay straight up.

I know which felt you are talking about, that stuff is horrible for flute work...

Like hat brim felt, these can also be ironed to a stiffer consistency. You can even just iron locally, (key tail sides) if you want to cut nice sharp corners with a razor

Joe B