Flute Pad Tools

DIAMOND TONEHOLE FILES FOR FLUTES
Make sure that the toneholes rims are flat before installing these pads. I supply a set of excellent rotary tone hole files/pilots for this purpose.

JS flute tonehole files come supplied with your choice of #300, 600 or 1200 grit diamond abrasive which cuts fast and smooth. These high quality finishing discs are made of precision surface ground steel with diamonds embeded directly into the metal. These are the only files that give you a perfectly flat tonehole quickly and easily every time. Other files are a slow struggle in comparison. For a fine finish I recommend the standard 600 and then the 1200 grit finishing discs. The 300 grit discs are better for student quality flutes or general roughing in. Do not use on nickel plated flutes or they will clog up. The back side of each steel disc doubles as a surface guage to check for perfect flatness of the tonehole. Basic size pilots are supplied with the files. Inbetween size pilots in .5mm increments are also available (see below).

ROTARY CHAMFER FILES FOR FLUTES
After the toneholes are flat you will need to smooth off the rough edges on the corners so the pad skin doesn't get cut. The easiest way to do this is with the rotary abrasive bits as shown below. A protective template is provided so you don't accidentally damage the surface of the body. These tools save time and effort and are very affordable. You can use a low (multispeed) Dremel if you have one or I can provide a small, easy to handle, 16,000 RPM rotary file at a very low cost. The rotary tool includes a variety of polish felts, cutoff discs, 1/8" and 3/32" collets, diamond burrs etc, etc. Comes with 110 volt AC to 12 Volt DC power pack. You can buy a complete chamfer file kit for flute or sax or purchase the components separately.

LEAK ISOLATOR FOR MAGNEHELIC
Here is the tool you need to achieve a perfect pad job. The hand held wand has two Orings that isolate each tonehole/pad one at a time as you slide it down the flute tube so you can check and compare the seal of each pad. Simply slide the wand into the flute, close the tonehole you are checking and look at the meter on the Magnehelic leak tester. Its the best tool of its kind and the fastest and easiest way to check for leaks. If you have shimmed a pad properly and a leak persists - then you may have a retainer leak (many good repairmen miss this). Adjustments can be balanced with precision.

GO HERE FOR MAGNHELIC & LEAK ISOLATOR INSTRUCTIONS

MAGNETIC PAD RETAINER TOOLS
The magnetic peg and radiused punch shown below make it easy to install the magnetic pad retainers. For moce details go to:

GO HERE FOR MAGNETIC RETAINER INSTALLATION DETAILS