Only wood from North America will be used unless specifically requested and the request accepted. We will not use wood from endangered forests or resources.

The flute is crafted with care, reverence and with respect to Mother Earth. During its crafting, it is smudged and offered back to Mother Earth. Great attention is given to every step of the flutes creation to insure quality and workmanship, in honor to the earth from where it came.

Great personal pride is achieved upon a flutes completion. We usually don't know what the end result will look like until the last few steps of crafting it, when it is polished to a mirror finish. It is with great expectation when finishing those final steps to see what pattern of grain and color the wood may reveal.

Please note that the wood is a part of Mother Earth and what may look like imperfections due to color, grain or knots, is what gives the flute its uniqueness and character.

Every effort is made to achieve a finely crafted and perfectly tuned instrument, but time and use may take its toll. Please pay particular attention to the following care instruction.

Care for your flute

One of the worst enemies of a flute is moisture. During the final finishing of the wood, the flute is dipped in a waterproof sealer of polyurethane. This protects and seals the wood from moisture induced from the breath and handling. Then the mouthpiece is hand rubbed with pure beeswax or paste wax.

After play of the flute, and at intervals during play, disassemble the block from the body to dry out. Wipe the excess moisture away from the block base and the flues in the body. Let the pieces dry before assembly.

The outside body of the flute can be polished with beeswax, food grade block oil, or a paste wax. The mouthpiece should always be free from any applied toxic substance. Nothing needs to be done to the interior. The block and block base surfaces should be occasionally treated with a good paste wax for continued protection from moisture.

The felt bag included with the flute is for minimal protection only. Some of the hard woods are rugged enough to withstand minor dings but the softer woods will dent easily.

Care for your flutes tuning

One of the worst enemies of a flute is moisture. We cannot stress this enough. The blocks base and surface area around the flues in the body were carefully surfaced flat. They must remain flat to each other. There cannot be any irregularity between the block and flue surface to cause an air leak. If the flute sounds 'airy' then carefully inspect the joining area by holding the assembled flute up to a light. If you see light between the block and flue surface, then it must be surfaced flat. Moisture will cause wood to expand and become irregular, so this alignment must be corrected. Proceed as follows:

Disassemble the block from the flute. Determine which surface may need sanding, it usually is the flute base and not the block. If correcting the flute base area, use emery paper wrapped around a small block of wood (a hard sanding block works well). Sand the surface around and between the flues until flat. Then apply a good paste wax for waterproofing. To sand the block, take a small sheet of emery paper (400 grit or higher) placed on a flat working surface, sand the entire bottom surface until flat.

Be cautious, if the block is sanded too much, it will effect the playing and tone. The small groove has a specific depth and width dimension so if the depth is reduced too much, it will effect the tone quality.

To play the flute

It is only necessary to align the front of the block, even, with the back of the forward flue. Blow softly until you learn the characteristics and nuances of the sounds. The 'all holes closed' position is actually the hardest basic note on the flute to play, it is the lowest note, and the note of the key the flute is tuned to. Once you understand and have control of the breath, very small adjustments to the block can be made, forward or back to adjust the tone quality.

The fingering chart shown on the music page will show you the notes that can be played. Try the notes to the basic pentatonic scale first. Just with these six notes, an endless number of songs can be played. As you learn the techniques of fingering and breath control, you can expand into the extended range of notes and alter the sounds with expressions made from the throat and tongue.

Again, one of the worst enemies of a flute is moisture.  Normal playing of the flute will produce moisture in the air passage through condensation. At first this will produce a hissing sound, and then to a point that the flute will not play at all. During play, occasionally 'blow out' the moisture by blowing into the front of the slot. Or, hold the flute, ties and block firm, holding onto the body and 'shake out' the moisture out the mouthpiece end. Better yet, (and what I would recommend) untie the block, wipe clean both pieces, dry and re-assemble. Keeping the flues and block slot free from moisture will allow for enjoyed continuous play.

The tie around the block should be wrapped two or three times. It should only be tied snug not tight, allowing for the repositioning of the block as needed.  It also will help in easily removing the block to dry without stress and damage to the leather.

Satisfaction:

We will honor our workmanship for a period of 90 days.  We are proud of the work we do and would not hesitate to ensure your satisfaction.  If there is a problem or concern, do not hesitate to contact us.  Your respect for our work is our goal.