I attended John Landell’s Vermont Flute Workshop in 2009. This was an amazing experience to work alongside and learn from a true master craftsman.
Here is my photo journal of the adventure.
I grind the approximate shape, and then finish by hand filing and finally buffing. The idea is to make the tools I need, learn the motions of file use, and finally to conceptualize how these ideas work with the end goals of flute making and repair in mind.
Here I'm learning how to use the lathe, I made a wood handle for the burnisher I just made.
This amazing tool is not much larger than a quarter. Landell made it to make the hole for the pivot screw that holds the top end of the A-Bb combination. A hole has been drilled through the piece on the left to accommodate the rod that the A-Bb keys will rotate on. The space in the middle lets him know how far he had drilled and how deep the hole is.
On the right is the drill he made that is held by an allen screw so it can be chucked up in the lathe and he can be absolutely certain that everything can be drilled on center.
On the right is the drill he made that is held by an allen screw so it can be chucked up in the lathe and he can be absolutely certain that everything can be drilled on center.
Now we start the project I came for. I have an old Haynes flute made in 1923 that had a missing C# tone hole, missing C# trill key, the G# tone hole needed to be replaced. And that's just for starters! First the springs have to be removed.
The ribs have to be removed so additions posts can be made and silver soldered on to hold the C# trill mechanism.
When the ribs are soldered back on they are held with wire that is used in flower stores.
This machine is used to determine the diameter of the pieces to be made in three dimensions, using the 4th to determine the other three.
This measures distances and using a computer creates a picture of what needs to be done.
Using a jig to hold that little ball in place, three of these pieces need to be solder on to hold the C# in place. Landell eyeballed the angle these key posts needed to be soldered at and got it perfectly.