The flute is now mine. I thought it was in playable condition at first, but then the cork on one of the tenons disintegrated. In the meantime, I cleaned it up as best I could. Somebody had used what appeared to be gray lipstick for tuning slide lube. And the same substance was on the next joint as well.....yuck. The problem is that this was no longer lubricating (if it ever was) and was causing things to stick. I removed it as best I could, but some of it is still up inside the head where I can't get at it. But the tuning slide moves almost normally now. I can feel it stick just a tiny bit, but once I lube it up with the much-touted toilet wax, it should do even better. Also oiled the wood it since it obviously hadn't had maintenance in a few years. Yes, I know there is debate about oiling instruments; no need to rehash here.
I think I'll only do one oil application for now and let it sit overnight to absorb. I want to get this up and running in the next couple of days.
We'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow evening. I might tackle the corks. I'll probably just do them all so they're fresh. Once it becomes playable, I'll try and post pics.
I do have a question: The end plug is threaded as if there is supposed to be a rod that connects to the cork. But there is no cork to stop the air. There is, however, a metal? plug that appears to be permanently affixed inside. Is the end plug (or whatever the technical name is) purely cosmetic in this case?
I kind of feel bad for whoever isn't playing it anymore. It seems as if some down-on-their-luck aspiring musician needed money worse than they needed music. I feel in a way that I'm helping take advantage of some poor soul somewhere.
