How to dry/season wood for flute-making?

[Ionut Batrinache]

Hello,
i want to collect some fruit tree wood (plum,apricot,cherry, apple, walnut,etc) for making some folk flutes. How should i dry itand for how long?

I've read that i should seal the ends with paint or wax to prevent cracking. I have also read that some flute makers make a lime treatment to the wood. I don't know what is that for.

[David King]

Ionut,

I've never made a flute but depending on how large the pieces are that you are starting with I'd be tempted to try drilling the bore hole in the green wood and sealing it all up for a year or two. I visited a friend's recorder factory in MA and it took them 12 years to finish an instrument with many month drying intervals after each operation.

[Ionut Batrinache]

So bore the wood with the final diameter or a smaller one and ream it after it is dry? I imagine that after drying the bore will deform a little bit.

[David King]

Ionut,

I'm sure it will deform as most woods will shrink considerably more tangentially than radially so you will end up with a smaller hole that is oval over time.

[Cory Little]

I recommend that you keep the wood indoors for at least four years. You can seal the ends, or just work around any cracks that appear. If you drill holes in the wood while it is still green, it would be a safe bet that they will all crack_ and be ruined..

[Ionut Batrinache]

That is ehat i was thinking. I will seal the end because i use mostly branches so i don't have a lot of material to work around cracks.