04/16/2026
I felt like we were due for another long explainy video, so here's a tired video about key oil (don't worry, I'm going on vacation next week. Everyone try to not have emergencies pls). Most flutists have heard that you shouldn't try to oil your own flute's mechanism, but I find that sometimes people don't understand exactly why this can be so perilous. I happen to have a really good example in front of me that illustrates why this should generally be avoided!
Also, to my repair colleagues out there, let's make sure that we're not underestimating the perils of oiling either. I see pretty frequent instances of other professionals either adding too much oil, or not doing sufficient cleanup after oiling and having these sorts of issues happen. As for me, I will put a drop of oil (and by drop, I mean drop with my needle oiler) inside the mechanism tubing, twist the key onto the steel, not just push it on straight but actually turn it so that the oil kind of spirals into the tubing instead of mushrooming out at the top, and then wiping the facings of the key with acetone on a q tip before reasssembly. If there's a lug involved, I will also wipe the lug surfaces with acetone after oiling and before reassembly, and then once assembled, wipe the joints with a pipe cleaner with acetone. I find this works very well at keeping even these older Boston flutes from having oil contamination at the adjustment points (their key design makes them especially prone to issues from even the slightest over oiling). What's everyone else's super fussy oiling technique?
