Monday, May 25, 2015

Shaping the Lip Plate


This week, we stopped back into the headjoint room to meet with flute finisher and headjoint cutter, Lindsey McChord.  In a few previous posts, Lindsey explained some of the actual cutting techniques used in the headjoint cutting process.  You can review these posts by clicking here to read the "Cutting Headjoints" post and clicking here for "The Scraper Blade." 

In addition to the cutting, part of the headjoint making process involves shaping the lip plate, and this is done by exerting pressure on the plate to create the desired shape (or "slope" or "drop-off").  Lindsey uses a vise, which is a device that holds the headjoint in place and allows her to press areas of the lip plate to get the desired shape.  Although the vise is a piece of equipment, it is controlled not by a motor but simply by Lindsey turing a handle to push the wooden plate of the vise closer to the lip plate -- and this helps gently bend the metal lip plate to get the desired shape.  You'll see the process in the series of photos below:

First, Lindsey places a popsicle stick under the side of the lip plate that she does not want to bend.  This keeps that side completely in tact:


In the photo below, Lindsey shows us the space between the tubing and edge of the lip plate on the side that she needs to shape.  Ultimately, this space will decrease when the plate is bent with the vise.


Positioning the headjoint in the vise properly is crucial.  She told us that she positions it so that she can see straight down through the embouchure hole.


With her left hand, Lindsey gently holds the tubing of the headjoint, and with her right hand, she turns the handle of the vise.  The side of the lip plate closest to the handle is the side she is bending.  The opposite side of the lip plate (above her left hand) will not be bent because the popsicle stick is holding it in place.


Lindsey removes the headjoint from the vise to show us that the gap has become much less as she has bent that edge of the plate into the desired shape.


Lindsey checks the space between the edge of the lip plate and the headjoint tubing.  The popsicle stick comes into play once again as it serves as the perfect gauge for this measurement. She told us that although other commercial gauges have been made, she has tried them, and the popsicle stick really is the best.  It is the most durable, resilient, and accurate time and again.


Another nice thing about the popsicle stick is that it is wooden, so it has some give.  In the photo below, Lindsey demonstrates that she can also use it to bend parts of a lip plate very gently in the opposite direction.  In this case, she is working with a 14k lip plate.  She says that the stick is also a natural gauge for the amount of pressure she is exerting by hand.  "If the popsicle stick begins to split, I know I'm using too much pressure."


It's quite amazing to see the very simple and straightforward tools used for the lip plate shaping process.  Lindsey reminds us that, "It's because these headjoints truly are handcrafted.  There are no machines to do this -- it's all done by hand."  And, that is so very true.  With a little help from a metal vise to hold the headjoint, the actual pressure is controlled by Lindsey.  The measuring and assessment are done by hand, and then any additional "tweaks" are done by hand as well.

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