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Flutes etc. My foot-Joint is frozen

Two Voices

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After a long practice session yesterday, I started to strip down my concert flute to swab, and pack away for the night. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remove my foot-joint. I tried cooling down the flute in the fridge for a few minutes then warming up the foot-joint with my hands hoping that the tenon on the body has contracted while the foot-joint expanded, to no avail.

I don’t have a back-up so I’m changing my repertoire over the Christmas period to piccolo, and alto flute, unless I can somehow, separate the concert flute. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I’ll be sending to my flute tech in the New Year but that’s more than a week away, and I’m not sure if they can do this or not.
 
Very easy to do a lot of damage, so you're right to leave it. But nothing to stop you playing it, I think.
 
Very easy to do a lot of damage, so you're right to leave it. But nothing to stop you playing it, I think.

Compared to saxophones, flutes are very fragile. It's still playable, so I can still practice. Unfortunately, I can't pack it away to play at other venues, until it's repaired. I\m not sure how it happened, but the timing is annoying. I really need to thnk about getting a back up but currently skint. So I'm seriously considering the thought of selling my Rampone & Cazzani “Two Voices” Tenor Saxophone.
 
Wait for one of the techs such as @jbtsax or @griff136 to come online - they may have some non-destructive suggestions

Thanks. It would save me a lot of grief over the festive period if I could play my concert flute rather than the alto flute at every gig. It's quite a big flute, and I only have the straight head-joint for it.
 
'My foot-Joint is frozen'.

11512-hannibal-lecter-christmas-badge21.jpg

Xmas dinner will be a little later than expected then.
Have a glass of chianti while it thaws.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions folks! It's much appreciated. A friend has lent me a flute to tide me over until the New Year, so I can wait for the tech to sort the issue out!

Merry Christmas!
 
It is quite possible that a bit of grit or other debris has gotten lodged between the tenon and receiver. If this is the case, trying to twist it off may cause further damage. The way to remove the foot is to carefully "wiggle" it back and forth and pull at the same time. Be patient, as it often takes some time. It will come off if you keep at it. The remedy to this is to keep both parts spotlessly clean at all times.
 
It is quite possible that a bit of grit or other debris has gotten lodged between the tenon and receiver. If this is the case, trying to twist it off may cause further damage. The way to remove the foot is to carefully "wiggle" it back and forth and pull at the same time. Be patient, as it often takes some time. It will come off if you keep at it. The remedy to this is to keep both parts spotlessly clean at all times.

Thanks for the advice. It'll try easing it off slowly throughout the day, and see what happens.

I always clean the tenon and receiver before putting the flute together, so I don't think anything is trapped. Maybe I hadn't aligned it correctly as I twisted it on. It's always been a tight fit, unlike my other flutes where they twist on with very little effort (I just use a finger with the thumb in the tube of the foot to twist it on). This flute however has always required a firmer grip.
 
It is quite possible that a bit of grit or other debris has gotten lodged between the tenon and receiver. If this is the case, trying to twist it off may cause further damage. The way to remove the foot is to carefully "wiggle" it back and forth and pull at the same time. Be patient, as it often takes some time. It will come off if you keep at it. The remedy to this is to keep both parts spotlessly clean at all times.

I did what you recommended. Wriggling the foot-joint back and forth whilst gently pulling. It took two days of patience but I finally got the foot-joint separated from the body without causing any damage to the flute. I’ve inspected both the tenon and receiver, and both seem fine. No marks or scoring. I have cleaned both the tenon and receiver thoroughly. The fit isn’t as tight as it used to be but still a very snug compare to my other flutes. Thanks for the advice, it’s very much appreciated :thumb:
 
I did what you recommended. Wriggling the foot-joint back and forth whilst gently pulling. It took two days of patience but I finally got the foot-joint separated from the body without causing any damage to the flute. I’ve inspected both the tenon and receiver, and both seem fine. No marks or scoring. I have cleaned both the tenon and receiver thoroughly. The fit isn’t as tight as it used to be but still a very snug compare to my other flutes. Thanks for the advice, it’s very much appreciated :thumb:
Something caused it to bind. That just doesn't happen on its own. Inspecting the parts under magnification may tell a different story. An old trick for tight fitting metal joints is to rub your finger along the outside of your nose and use your skin's natural oil as a lubricant. (whenever I give this advice it seems to be "low hanging fruit" for those Cafe members who like to make jokes about it)
 
Something caused it to bind. That just doesn't happen on its own. Inspecting the parts under magnification may tell a different story. An old trick for tight fitting metal joints is to rub your finger along the outside of your nose and use your skin's natural oil as a lubricant. (whenever I give this advice it seems to be "low hanging fruit" for those Cafe members who like to make jokes about it)

You were right. I'm not sure what got stuck in there but there was a very, very small gouged line that I had to polish out. I'm very meticulous now to clean the joints before assembly to prevent a reoccurrence.
 

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