im sorry, i couldnt pass up on the subject. on to my dirty syn.
i have been using the soapy mixture trick to help stop the spit from clogging and that has been working wonders.
I have the tuning slide pushed all the way in, that seems to be where it is best in tune with the fiddler & group of whistlers that i have been meeting with.
now when i look into the whistle, it just looks funky in there. should i clean it? and how? or should i leave it? also, does the brass tuning part need to be lubricated? anything else i should know about maintaining a syn?
Hi Justajoe, here’s what I do with my syn - seems good.
Firstly, if you feel the funky interior is helping the sound - just leave it there. Myself, I clean it out. Just use a swab - say a knitting needle with some old flanel sheet strip (about 1/2 inch wid) wound round the chunky end to get it in there. A little dilute dishwashing liquid is good to dampen it - wind it in intil it reaches the fipple, give it a good cranking without pushing hard and wind it back out. It’s best to leave some of the strip hanging out so you can pull it out if it slips off the knitting needle. Once done just run some warm water from the tap over it to flush. The oxide you get off is black as syn - best gone.
The windway is a bit different - I use a bit of thin balsa wood to get in there. If it breaks-off poke it out with another bit. Once all is clean I get another swab with a teeny bit of almond oil to give it a coat - this can help prevent oxidisation in the aluminium and doesn’t hurt the sound or harm the delrin.
That’s my way of cleaning up dirty syn - detergent and determination.
A customer of mine suggested a terrific cleaning/oiling swab (oil for wooden whistles only). Go out for a nice Chinese dinner and bring home some BAMBOO chopsticks (the regular wood won’t work quite as well). Split the thin end of one CAREFULLY with a sheetrock knife or something similar. A split of about 1 inch or so will be fine. You can use that split to hold a gauze square or similar piece of cloth (old t-shirt material is great). The bamboo is springy enough to hold the cloth pretty securely. I’ve been using the same one for about 3 years now.
I use a fine prehensile, a long, spring-loaded thingy with a claw at the end. You can roll it together and stow it away. For cleansing fabric, I use a piece of a quilt cover.
