I have just spent the last hour or so reading your home page. The information is great. The nice thing is that most of the information is objective, but the subjective stuff is well done too. I am the proud owner of 5 O'Riordans and 8 (no misprint) Copelands. Let me tell you what I do to care for the Copelands. First all, that black plastic material is duPont Delrin and will probably last longer then the metal tube!!

They make the stuff about 5 miles from me. I polish all the Copelands (nickle, silver, and brass) with something from Texas used for cymbals called Pro Mark. What is nice is that the whistle does not "go dull" so quickly(the shine lasts about 3-4 weeks) and does not give a petroleum type feel on the whistle when done. The shine is brilliant. My brass whistles have actually been mistaken for gold. On the tuning slides, I use a Selmer trombone slide grease which does not turn black. Also, I do not use much cause I don't want the slide moving while I'm playing for obvious reasons. I clean the whistles with a test tube brush under hot water....you cannot hurt them. As for the African blackwood O'Riordans, I have a thing used in flutes and oboes called a "Pad Saver". It looks like an artificial cattail that STAYS in the whistle. It actually wicks out all moisture and keeps the bores perfectly dry. Once a month, I put a few drops of Selmer Bore Oil (used for oboes and clarinets) directly on the Pad Savers and them leave them in. Keeps the inside oiled but dry. I have also bought a couple of Anvil cases (the briefcase style) and have placed into it some foam rubber. I get this from a furniture upholstery store who cuts it to my specs. Once the rubber is in place, I measure the whistles that need to go into the case and cut grooves into the foam rubber. The Copeland case goes Low F (in two parts), low G, A, Bb, C, D, then a Feadog D nickel(made by McCullough Piggot who has not existed for about 12 years ),Eb and F. I have opened this case in Ireland and people act like they saw the Shroud of Turin. Oh, do you know that the head joint that Pat O'Riordan supplies with his "Tin of Whistles" can also fit perfectly on a Generation or Feadog D if you just steam off the top? The fit is so good, you don't need anything sticky to hold it on. It is perfect. Anyway Dale, please write back. You sound like the kind of person that I'd feel privileged to stay in touch with. Take good care and have a grand Sunday.

 Bob