Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hey folks, I've got some questions about oiling flutes. First of all, how often do you oil your flutes? What kind of oil do you use? And also, does the oiling change the sound of the flute or does it just prevent it from cracking?

I bought a bottle of bore oil from the music store, and have been using that. every couple of weeks. On a care intsruction sheet that came with my flute, it said to oil it evrey ten hours I play it. That seems a bit often, doesn't it? Or am I not oiling it enough?

Thanks!

Max

Max, if you use Almond oil, then you need to oil often (it depends on the type of wood, and if it's been played a lot or not), bore oil seals the flute much better, and you can use it less frequently. I feel like the flute plays better after oiling it, but who knows?
I think I oiled my M&E once and it sounded better to me

Hi Max,
You'll probably get as many different answers as there are people who post, possibly more. I pretty much just follow the maker's instructions both for type of oil and for frequency of oiling. I sometimes get a bit lax with oiling instruments I'm not playing much but, if I do, I make sure I give it a good drink before I play it seriously.

When a flute or whsitle is new, chemical changes are taking place every time you oil the wood and it gets exposed to oxygen. I assume that these are subtly different for different oils so I wouldn't risk mixing oils, if only to leave the maker no excuse for fixing it should something go wrong. (I'm not suggesting that makers tend to look for excuses, on the contrary. It's just that if you leave your flute out in the rain for a week and then dry it in the microwave, no sane maker would take responsibility for the damage you cause.)

You'll hear all different opinions on this. Every ten hours of playing does sound excessive, but that could also be for the break-in period of a new instrument, or maybe getting an antiuqe playable again. The relative humidity of your climate is probably a better indication of how much to oil to prevent cracking - even then, whatever the maker advises (do you know who made the flute?) is probably the best opinion to follow.

...and the opinions vary - some makers say you rarely need to oil (maybe twice a year), a friend of mine who just got a new Wilkes flute says Chris told him to lightly oil the bore after every use (after swabbing out the breath condensation) until it's 'played-in' (approximately 1 to 1.5 year of regular playing). Could be they're taking into account your particular climate, or flute timbers are more durable than we paranoid owners think . Still, oiling more often than not certainly isn't going to hurt anything.

It will generally make the flute sound better by increasing the air resistance in the bore by sealing the surface. I would think specific bore-oil would work just fine, I use refined Almond Oil for a natural alternative.

Basically, it makes sense to lightly oil inside and out (taking care not to gum-up the tuning slide or tenons) regularly to pretty much guarantee you won't have any problems with cracking unless you leave it in a window on a summer day or sit on it.

Cheers,
- Ryan

I agree strongly that following the maker's instructions is always a sound approach.

That said, I have followed the schedule Hammy Hamilton recommends with good luck: starting with a brand new flute, oil it once a day for the first week, then once a week for the first month, then once a month from then on.

Start with a dry flute, and use just a few drops on a cloth or mop. You just want a light sheen of oil on the bore and inside the embouchure and tone holes. If you have keys it's a good idea to cut up small pieces of plastic (such as a grocery store bag) and put under the pads to protect them from the oil.

Allow the oil a few hours to penetrate the wood--which it really won't except at where the end-grain meets the surface, and that's the area where oiling really helps anyway--and then remove the excess oil from the bore with a clean dry cloth or mop.

The kind of oil recommended is preferably dry-pressed (not boiled!) linseed oil; you can also use high quality bore oil.

I have followed this advice with excellent results so far.

--James

(do you know who made the flute?)

Yes, I bought it new from Casey Burns. He was the one that recomended oiling it for every ten hours of playing time.

I agree strongly that following the maker's instructions is always a sound approach.

Hmm. Well, in that case, maybe I should be oiling it more often.

You just want a light sheen of oil

Oops, I think I might have been putting too much oil on. I definitley use more than a few drops, and it takes all night for it to soak in. Is it possible to over-oil a flute?

Thanks for your help folks!

Max

fiddlecrazy wrote: Oops, I think I might have been putting too much oil on. I definitley use more than a few drops, and it takes all night for it to soak in. Is it possible to over-oil a flute?

Yes, over-oiling can mess up your flute. I was always advised to let the oil soak in for just an hour or so, and then to wipe the bore and the outside with a dry cloth to remove any excess oil.

It's kind of like a bike chain: it's important to oil your chain regularly but you have to wipe off the excess otherwise it gets black and gunky real fast.

As everyone else here has said, it's a good idea to follow the maker's advice on oiling, but there's a wide range of advice. I know at least one maker who advises never oiling his flutes, and I know others who advise very frequent oiling. Most makers fall somewhere between those two extremes.

bradhurley wrote:
Yes, over-oiling can mess up your flute. I was always advised to let the oil soak in for just an hour or so, and then to wipe the bore and the outside with a dry cloth to remove any excess oil.

Even here there are dissenters. Michael Grinter recommends full immersion of the head of his whistles in almond oil for, from memory, five minutes, and then letting the assembled whistle stand overnight while the oil soaks down and through. Only then does he recommend wiping off the excess. This leads, as he himself says, to an unfocussed sound for about a day after oiling but they sure sound good straight after that. I don't have a Grinter flute so I've not checked whether he offers the same advice.

Wombat wrote: It's just that if you leave your flute out in the rain for a week and then dry it in the microwave, no sane maker would take responsibility for the damage you cause.

That's why we microwave our instruments while we're making them at the shop, so you don't have to

(I'm only partly kidding, we DO put our instruments in the microwave during production, but not so you can leave them out in the rain )

Loren

Loren wrote:

Wombat wrote: It's just that if you leave your flute out in the rain for a week and then dry it in the microwave, no sane maker would take responsibility for the damage you cause.

That's why we microwave our instruments while we're making them at the shop, so you don't have to

(I'm only partly kidding, we DO put our instruments in the microwave during production, but not so you can leave them out in the rain )

Loren

Well, nuking r*c*rd*rs makes sense, anyway.

Right you are nano!

Loren

fiddlecrazy wrote:Hey folks, I've got some questions about oiling flutes. First of all, how often do you oil your flutes?

Just enough for it not to get rusty.

Loren wrote:(I'm only partly kidding, we DO put our instruments in the microwave during production, but not so you can leave them out in the rain )

Boxwood only, or other kinds of wood too?

Loren wrote:

Wombat wrote: It's just that if you leave your flute out in the rain for a week and then dry it in the microwave, no sane maker would take responsibility for the damage you cause.

That's why we microwave our instruments while we're making them at the shop, so you don't have to

(I'm only partly kidding, we DO put our instruments in the microwave during production, but not so you can leave them out in the rain )

Loren

Actually, when I wrote that I suspected that makers might use microwaves. Why not if you know what you are doing?

Of course, people who ask basic questions about oiling aren't in that category and neither are most of us who can answer them.

glauber wrote:

Loren wrote:(I'm only partly kidding, we DO put our instruments in the microwave during production, but not so you can leave them out in the rain )

Boxwood only, or other kinds of wood too?

Other woods as well, although not usually Grenadilla. Boxwood virtually always.

Loren