Other Something nasty in the flute shed...

[turf3]

Mine's drawn and rolled tone holes.

They claim that they put "the same amount of hand work and attention into their plated models as their sterling silver models". Obviously I have no way to assess that claim. Knowing that maillechort Louis Lot flutes are considered just as good as sterling ones, I opted for the model with plated keywork (actually superior to sterling - harder and more resistant to wear), plated body, sterling silver head. I went for the silver head model because with that model you get a choice of heads.

I will say the thing plays beautifully; the action's just as slick as the Haynes and Powell top models, at least to me, and it's miles ahead of my old solid silver Armstrong. In any other world (as you alluded to) this would be a top professional instrument - only in fluteland where prices are supported by upper-middle-class parents who want to get "the best" for their high school flutist daughter would the thing I'm playing be considered "intermediate".

 

[ghostler]

Techs vary from good to worse. It's a special skill that not all have, or those with the talent to further develop.

It's one of the reasons why a local plumbing shop in town has a slogan on the back of his tool truck,
We fix your husband's plumbing repairs.

 

[greenstripe]

Techs vary from good to worse. It's a special skill that not all have, or those with the talent to further develop.

It's one of the reasons why a local plumbing shop in town has a slogan on the back of his tool truck,
We fix your husband's plumbing repairs.

The problem is there are a lot of established 'professionals' often with a good reputation who for some reason think it's ok to cause irreparable damage to customers' items rather than do the work properly or pass up the job.

 

[Stephen Howard]

The problem is there are a lot of established 'professionals' often with a good reputation who for some reason think it's ok to cause irreparable damage to customers' items rather than do the work properly or pass up the job.

I just can't get my head around that approach, though.
I mean, every repairer makes mistakes. It happens, but you do your very best to avoid it.
My most spectacular mistake (decades ago!) was shaving a few mm out of a clarinet barrel. I half-joked with the client that it was a risky job...and then the lathe tool caught on the barrel and the whole thing exploded. Fortunately I had a spare with which to replace it.
My most cringing mistake was adjusting a G# cup key spring while the client looked over my shoulder. The spring hook slipped and dragged right across the lacquered key cup. I was mortified - but the client was OK about it.

And sometimes thing don't go according to plan. I always aim for an 'invisible repair' when doing solderwork, but it's not always possible. So you have to do the best that you can under the circumstances - and for me that means a thorough but neat job. Every job is a showcase. I want to go home each evening knowing that I did my best work.

This is all obvious to me - it's what I expect when I put, say, a car or a watch or a camera in for repair. Everything comes back as it was, only better. I just don't get what drives someone to mangle a 5k flute or, like the Rampone tenor I had in back in February, fit a set of new pads and sign the job off with hardly any of them seating.

 

[Pete Effamy]

I just can't get my head around that approach, though.
I mean, every repairer makes mistakes. It happens, but you do your very best to avoid it.
My most spectacular mistake (decades ago!) was shaving a few mm out of a clarinet barrel. I half-joked with the client that it was a risky job...and then the lathe tool caught on the barrel and the whole thing exploded. Fortunately I had a spare with which to replace it.
My most cringing mistake was adjusting a G# cup key spring while the client looked over my shoulder. The spring hook slipped and dragged right across the lacquered key cup. I was mortified - but the client was OK about it.

And sometimes thing don't go according to plan. I always aim for an 'invisible repair' when doing solderwork, but it's not always possible. So you have to do the best that you can under the circumstances - and for me that means a thorough but neat job. Every job is a showcase. I want to go home each evening knowing that I did my best work.

This is all obvious to me - it's what I expect when I put, say, a car or a watch or a camera in for repair. Everything comes back as it was, only better. I just don't get what drives someone to mangle a 5k flute or, like the Rampone tenor I had in back in February, fit a set of new pads and sign the job off with hardly any of them seating.

It’s quite normal Steve. It’s normal for people to say that they can do this or that - often when they either have little or no experience of it, or worse; they know for a fact that they can’t do what they say they can.

It happens in your job, in FTSE 100 companies, in government…

 

[Colin the Bear]

To know and know you know, is good.
To know and not know you know is acceptable.
To not know and know you don't know is also acceptable.
To not know you don't know, is very common but unacceptable.



I'm beginning to think the word know is looking very odd now. 🤨

 

[ghostler]

It’s quite normal Steve. It’s normal for people to say that they can do this or that - often when they either have little or no experience of it, or worse; they know for a fact that they can’t do what they say they can.

It happens in your job, in FTSE 100 companies, in government…

This is caused by a:

Spoiler: New Chemical Element Discovered

The heaviest element known to science was recently discovered by investigators at a major U.S. research university. The element, tentatively named administratium, has no protons or electrons and thus has an atomic number of 0. However, it does have one neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75 vice neutrons and 111 assistant vice neutrons, which gives it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by a force that involves the continuous exchange of meson-like particles called morons.

Since it has no electrons, administratium is inert. However, it can be detected chemically as it impedes every reaction it comes in contact with. According to the discoverers, a minute amount of administratium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete when it would have normally occurred in less than a second.

Administratium has a normal half-life of approximately three years, at which time it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which assistant neutrons, vice neutrons and assistant vice neutrons exchange places. Some studies have shown that the atomic mass actually increases after each reorganization.

Research at other laboratories indicates that administratium occurs naturally in the atmosphere. It tends to concentrate at certain points such as government agencies, large corporations, and universities. It can usually be found in the newest, best appointed, and best maintained buildings.

Scientists point out that administratium is known to be toxic at any level of concentration and can easily destroy any productive reaction where it is allowed to accumulate. Attempts are being made to determine how administratium can be controlled to prevent irreversible damage, but results to date are not promising.

This bit of humour was written in April 1988 and appeared in the January 1989 issue of The Physics Teacher. William DeBuvitz is a physics professor at Middlesex County College in Edison, New Jersey (USA). He retired in June of 2000.

Also please note, today many individuals take credit for DeBuvitz writing; there are newer variants. I saved this years ago as it was well written as is and was good humour to pass to friends during work business meetings. (I retired from both the aerospace and government industries.)

 

[skeller047]

It’s quite normal Steve. It’s normal for people to say that they can do this or that - often when they either have little or no experience of it, or worse; they know for a fact that they can’t do what they say they can.

It happens in your job, in FTSE 100 companies, in government…

It’s a human tendency. Someone asks “Do you know…” or “Can you do…”, and the answer is usually “Yes!”. Even if it isn’t.

There was a radio show (remember those?) here in the States for many years called Car Talk. The hosts were Tom and Ray Magliosi, AKA “Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers”. They had a phrase for this tendency - “Male Answer Syndrome”. I miss those guys…

 

[Woodpad]

I'm not sure how much compliance there is in the Straub. system (probably not a lot) - but Miyazawa tend to be pretty hot on QC, especially with the soldered tonehole models.

When you rely on a perfect flat rim, that doesn't exist, you need some extra force to close the gaps. When this gap is around 0.1 mm the force required to deform the pads begins to feel spongy. So I think that 0.03 mm is a good goalpost. Straubinger pads are installed by faffing around with such teeny-tiny pad shims as 0.025 mm.

From an engineering point of view you don't fool around with costly high precision parts but always use the cheaper wearing parts to get the right precision. So the nasty treated flute repairer was also wrong in this aspect of his job.

My father was a gifted blacksmith and when the French Bombardon of a friend was cracked and dented, he learned me how to repair it to its original state with two hammers. You could only see the soldered cracks. This learned me how time consuming working with metal is and I limit myself to dent removal (if possible) and try to avoid making them.

The subject of the return of the soldered flute tonehole is a good subject for another discussion.