Michael Lange Music Company

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"Flute Padding Survey"

Joseph Butkevicius

Explanation of Purpose

The purpose of this survey was to gather information from repair technicians on procedures used for repadding flutes. Questions addressed procedures concerning preparation of the flute to repadding, choices of tools, and pertinent supplies (e.g. pads, washers, etc.), and final seating procedures. This data was collected for the purposes of clinic presentation with the goal of comparing flute makers and flute specialty shop techniques to those of repair techs at large. This survey is by no means complete and further questions are required to give more meaning to the data. The comments and conclusions are my own.

Where the Survey was Conducted

This survey was posted on the Delphi Napbirt forum, the Napbirt Bounce through Napbirt.net, the Flute listserv owned by Larry Krantz administered through Syracuse University, the Yahoo groups flutenet discussion group, and Yahoo groups flute-tech discussion group. The survey replies were collected in the month of August 2001. The data collected is from a sample of 106 respondents.

Findings: Explanations of Raw Data by Question

Question 1:1.What best describes your repair shop: Woodwinds only, Woodwinds and Brass, Repair all, but flutes are a specialty, flute only (specialty), other:
The first question identifies the shop type or environment of the respondents working conditions. The majority of respondents (85.8%) identified themselves as combination woodwind and brasswind. This figure may or may not be significant for the purpose of this survey since the ratio of flute specialty shops to general repair techs is currently unknown. Further study and data collection of this statistic would greatly enhance the findings of this survey. It should be noted, however, that the data collected from flute specialty shops was consistent in general procedures for repadding.

Question 2: Do you work on toneholes?
This question compared the number of techs who performed some type of work to toneholes to those who did not work on toneholes at all. The survey reveals 73.6% of respondents who perform some corrective operation to toneholes.

Question 2a: If yes, types of tools used or method:
This question required discretion to place tools into various categories of respondents answering yes to Question 2. Various dent tools and types of facers where described and where assigned to their respective categories. Files and diamond hones where given a category each, since these were specifically mentioned by the respondents. The combination category describes respondents who employed both dent type tools and abrasives type tools working in combination. This category identifies 40.3% utilizing this technique.

Question 3: What type of pad do you use most often or prefer?
Respondents to this question often listed more than one type of pad. Some only listed a supplier for their pads. Pad choices here are listed by simple description. The top four are ranked as follows:

#1 Lucien Deluxe 18.9%
#2 Allied 15.6%
#3 Ferree's 12.3%
#4 Prestini 10.7%

This data may be useful for pad suppliers as well as repair technicians. Technicians sometimes described the felt characteristics (i.e. soft, medium, hard, thick, thin) of their choice of pads.

Question 4: What do you use for foundation washers, shims? (e.g. paper, plastic, Abell-Tretick...)
Paper washers and shims scored 84.9% of the respondents.

Question 5: Do you perform any prep work to the mechanism to accept a padding procedure - please describe? (Assume key swedging, pivots refit, etc, are OK)
The purpose of this question was to collect data on procedures used by technicians with respect to preparing the mechanism itself in conjunction with repadding. It also helped to identify whether or not technicians even consider this for repadding procedures.

This question sometimes received more than one answer due to the descriptive second part of the question. The statistics reflect a score depending on the descriptive words used. The simple yes or no answer identifies 75.7% that work on the mechanism for repads. The form varies, as indicated by the descriptions with 51.3% limiting any mechanical prep to tone holes. Those that combined tonehole work and key cup work were 23.5%. Only .9% mentioned only key cups specifically. Those respondents who did no other work other than pad installation was 24.3%. Further breakdown of the 75.7% respondents answering yes indicate that 67.8% concentrated only on toneholes and 31% combined tone hole work with key cup preparation.

Question 6: How do you check for leaks? (e.g. feeler gauge material, light, special tools...)
Although feeler gauge was ranked #1 at 53.8%, the type of feeler gauge material did vary if respondents specifically offered the feeler gauge material information. A combination of usage of a feeler gauge and light source was ranked #2 at 32.1%.

Questions Regarding Final Pad Seating

Of all the survey questions, this one produced a wide array of techniques. Study of the data shows some respondents did not specify the amount of time for clamping and were placed in the chart accordingly. An arbitrary divider for percentages was placed at the 2 hour marker to attempt to give perspective to the procedures employed. It should be noted that this marker was placed for purposes of a clinic presentation with respect to dividing the data as nearly in half as possible. The data from the chart indicates that 75.5% of the technicians wet pads for final seating procedure and 24.5% do not. The largest response in any single cell is the Clamp/ No Heat/ Wet Pads left overnight. The overnight category represents 28.4% of clamping time with a #1 ranking for an individual time category. The largest grouping in the time category falls in times up to 1 hour. The 5-15 minute category ranks #2 with 20.6%. This data indicates two conceptual differences in final pad seating with respect to time. Please see the conclusions for my personal comments on this part of the data.

One further clarification, the water with additive is a general category. These technicians use water, but the additive varies (e.g. dish soap, simple green, etc.).

Conclusions

It is obvious that techniques and tools vary for purposes of repadding flutes, however, it is important to realize that the underlying principles for quality repads are identified, regardless of the variety of tools and techniques used. As stated in the explanation of purpose, the intent of this survey was to try and compare flute specialists and/or flutemaker's methods with methods of repair technicians at large. The relationship between the tone hole, key cup, and mechanism, and the subsequent condition of each, must be considered for pad selection, preparation, and final seating. The tools and techniques used for leak checking also reveal the degree of tolerance necessary in proportion to the relationship of the parts. Since there is as much art as science in repadding, it is the intent of these conclusions to emphasize the effects of these relationships so that technicians may continue their study to improve this art.

Having delineated shop type for purposes of this survey, the other components can be broken down into the following categories: Tone holes and leveling, Selection of pads, Preparation (mechanical), Leak Assessment, and Final Seating Procedures.

Tone Holes, Leveling & Pad Selection

The levelness of a tone hole certainly makes the job of repadding an easier task. There are many variations of techniques and tools used to conform the tone hole surface to the best obtainable degree of flatness. I will restrict my written comments here for purposes of the clinic presentation. The relationship of pad selection to tone hole levelness should be pointed out however. Since pads are "conformed" to the tone hole surface by means of shimming, the relation of the firmness of the pad can be in direct proportion to the levelness of the tone hole. In layman's terms, do not try to use a really hard pad on a very wavy tone hole. A tone hole that is more level can be used in conjunction with a firmer pad.

Mechanical Preparation & Pad Selection

This relationship has been considered more thoroughly by flute makers and/or specialty shops. The practice of mechanical prep (i.e. '"not shimming") to prepare the mechanism to accept whatever type of pad is an important relationship to understand. Flutemakers have asked the questions as to how flat (level) is the back of the key cup that supports the pad. There has also been consideration as to the parallelism of the back of the key cup to the tone hole given a specific thickness. Techniques from specialists identify techniques similar in concept to the Abell-Tretick method. These techniques do vary, from adjusting the key angles with special tools, to using permanently or semi permanently affixed foundation washers (e.g. delrin disks, shellac or hard wax floors). The thickness of the pad, height of the pad nut, and these other factors are all interrelated. It is in this area where extra techniques are being applied from specialty shops compared to repair technicians at large.

Leak Assessment & Final Pad Seating

There are a variety of ways to check for leaks. In principle, identifying leaks with a high degree of accuracy is desirable, so that they can be dealt with by any number of available techniques. Given the choice of pad, amount of mechanical prep and appropriate selection of pads, it is not surprising that the data reveals so much variance in methods for final seating. In principle, a soft pad, on a wavy tone hole, will require a deep seat for a successful leak assessment. Responses from specialty shops and flute makers indicate favoring shorter seating times. Since high performance (no leaks) is attainable with little clamping time, certain questions can be asked:

1. How much seating is actually necessary for a given pad type and level of preparation?
2. At what point in time is the tone hole impression sufficient?
3. Given any combination of any of the relationships involved, how is the longevity of pad life affected?

Given the conclusions in this survey report, there are probably other questions raised, as well, that others will perhaps consider.

Final Statement

It is hoped that the information from this survey and report will help technicians to continue improving their craft and perhaps gain insights into aspects of repadding that have heretofore, not been considered.

Additional Resources

Flute Repadding Survey Raw Spreadsheet Data Page 1

Flute Repadding Survey Raw Spreadsheet Data Page 2

If you have any questions and/or comments, send an e--mail.

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