Very pleasant guy, and I was happy to see that his normal flute fits almost perfectly alongside my Copley, even down to hole sizes! Not only that, but the Boehm-ish footjoint he makes should work a treat with the piper grip I use on my bottom hand.
He forges his keys as opposed to casting them — hence the expense I guess, which I’m fine with since it enables him to customize his keywork, and I will need a slightly longer long F than he typically makes and the extended long C as well.
His personal flute is utterly beautiful, made of cocobolo although he doesn’t use that anymore since its dust makes it unpleasant to turn. He brought a few others with him, one of “bananawood” (a.k.a. boxwood) and another of kingwood that had very small holes. That was a nice comparison between his typical model and the small-hole version he originally thought might work well for me. As it turns out, his typical model is so close to the Copley that there may be no more than a hair’s breadth between the two, so we’re going with that.
I still wish Jay Ham worked in Delrin, but it may turn out that Copley’s unwillingness to cast keys for a left-handed C foot may end up working in my favor since Ham makes Boehm-ish footjoints, and Copley makes the fussier and prone-to-misbehave grasshopper-knee keys. Although I’d still prefer a Delrin flute, Jay Ham’s model looks and feels as if it may be superior. He even uses block mounts, which I much prefer for their engineering elegance.
He also doesn’t line his headjoints, which he states helps with avoiding cracks. The metal tuning slide he uses is only partially inserted into the headjoint via a corked joint, which enables the wood to swell and shrink a titch without cracking. (Which reminds me, he recommends almond oil, which I have, so that’s good.)
He also has a rosing machine and can also hand-etch the crown cap, and I’m already wondering what I’d like there. I’m thinking of putting something together in Illustrator that combines the Euler identity and the Einstein field equations, which are near and dear to my non-Platonic heart.
I may also simply send him some garnets to mount on or around the crown in a floral pattern. I’ve got a circle about an inch or so in diameter to work with. I imagine I’ll come up with something.
It also seems likely that I will have it in slightly over a year, or perhaps a year from this coming Labor Day-ish.
His cases are beyond stunning as well, and small enough to fit into an overnight bag with zero worries. I will absolutely make a quilted zippered clutch-cover for it, with shoulder and subway straps.
And he was also very pleasant and knowledgeable, traveling for vacation (and to drop off flutes) with his family. He played an Irish piece en plein air — and I apologized for being unable to since I’ve been behind the harp forever lately and on the Boehm when not. Very nice to hear an Irish tune on a sunny day with green trees around, with little kids around playing nicely.
The Accidental Flutist 