When a flute head joint is hard to insert in the flute body, can it be oiled? If not, other suggestions?

Question

I bought this flute for my daughter and it seems very hard to insert the head joint into the flute body. I'm afraid she may damage the flute trying to put it together. Any suggestions as to what I can do to make the pieces go together more easily?

Answer 1

DO NOT OIL THE HEAD JOINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Twist it in to the rest of the body clockwise like so.  

Answer 2

Hi there,

Here is another thought for you.   Now, you did not say whether the flute was new or used.

But... if it is a used flute,  there is a possibility the headjoint is out of round...not perfectly round as it could be bent,  you might check it out.  If that is the case,  a woodwind repair tech can correct it in a matter of a few minutes.

Another thing to check out is the connection between the head and the body of the flute.  If the inside the body is gunky,  the head will be very hard to insert.   What I do is spray a little WD-40 on my finger and clean out the inside.   If your finger turns black.... you will know there was hard dirty residue which was the problem.  Continue to clean and wipe that out with the WD-40 and use a paper towel to dry it.

Then spray WD-40 into your palm and work with cleaning the bottom of the headjoint too.  Dry well and polish... then try again.  It should be easier.   If not.... the head is either mis-sized or out of round.

Also...  you are right.  Forcing the head in and out of the body can damage the flute... mostly the mechanism and keys from holding on tight enough to twist.    You will have more trouble if the keys get bent or broken off.....  and definately a big repair bill.  I would advise not letting your daughter assemble the flute until the issue is resolved.

And oiling or greasing will just make matters worse and make the flute gunkier.  Whatever you do.... don't do that!!!  

Thanks for reading.

Hope I was able to give you a few more ideas.

Answer 3

ELBOW GREASE!  No cleaners, oils, lubes, etc.  Get the inside and the outside surfaces SHINY clean - and then gently twist them together.  It will take a few gentle tries until they *find their way* and move like silk.  IF they are really fighting you - it is possible that the head and the body are from 2 different instruments, and not the same ID/OD.  Even us professional go through this - we can be buying a $5,000 solid gold head, only to find that it is a .018" head, and we own a .016 body.  They are made in MANY sizes - if you cannot get this to work out, then have a music shop look at it for you.  They could possibly swap you out a head that fits better.

Check the OTHER assembly tenon, too - the footjoint onto the body.  Again, rub is SLICK clean. It should fit positiviely, neither binding nor falling off.

Answer 4

don't use oil- it will damage the pads. take a bottle of cleanex glass cleaner and spray some on a paper towel. then clean the head joint where it inserts into the body and vice versa.  

Answer 5

Great Question.

You have many really good answers. I hope you will go through them and choose a BEST ANSWER from among those who have contributed.

All too often, people pour out their hearts with fantastic answers... spend much time with trying to help ... and get no thanks.

You should be a responsible Yahoo Asker and choose which

answer you feel has helped you the most !

Answer 6

but a little bit of vaseline on the head joint nd spread it with some tissue. i swear it works