Received a Bleazey wood .. high D .. in a trade. Told that it had been recently oiled. Went to Bleazey home page and they said to only play for 10 min a day for the first week during a “playing in” period and to dry each time I finish.
This is my first wooden whistle and don’t want anything to happen to this one .. suggestions or advice appreciated.
Oh .. and yes .. it really plays well.
Jim
I’ve got a Bleazey too.
When you received it used, you should contact your trade partner and ask him/her if the whistle was played in properly and played regularly (important). If yes, you don’t need to play it in again, if it wasn’t played for some time, playing it in again can be necessary.
Of course you don’t destroy anything when you play it in like Phil recommends on his page regardless of what the previous owner is saying.
I’m more or less finished with playing mine in, and it sings beautifully. 
Jim,
I use a mixture of almond oil and vitamin E to oil my wooden whistle. Also, I purchased a piccolo cleaning swab, which fits nicely into the tube to spread the oil on the inside. I oil my whistle about once a month, if I have played it regularly. However, I was told that you do not want to oil it right after you have played it. It will need to be dry on the inside before being oiled.
Hope that helps!
Carolyn
Three recommendations:
Oil it according to the maker’s instructions, though the page at
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/bleazey/CARE/index_flutecare.html#OILING is not very specific.
I play Thin Weasels and Glenn Schultz was very specific regarding oiling and care, should be appropriate for most any wood whistle:
http://www.tofutaco.com/Whistle/ThinWeasel-CareAndFeeding.pdf
Play it, according to the break in period if it was not played regularly recently. Or regularly and with wild abandon if it is already broken in.
Simple enough,
Did you play it enough to tell us how it sounds?
No .. Tommy .. haven’t yet .. want to play the heck out of it but the warning on the Bleazey site has me worried .. will follow it unless I hear from Adrian that he had been playing it on a regular basis. The little I played it .. was very nice .. would hate for something to happen to it.
Jim
Also find out from the seller how much the whistle has been played recently (last several months). If it’s been residing in a very dry climate and hasn’t been played for 6 months or so, it might be prudent to start the break-in period from scratch to let the wood slowly acclimate to moisture again.
Thank you for the suggestions and will sure follow them. This is too nice a whistle to mess up by getting in a hurry.
Jim
Which wood is it? Is it that olive one I saw posted recently?
Yes .. it is the olive wood … bought Almond oil today .. and oiled it …
Jim
If I’da only known he worked with olive… 
He did not mention it when I was getting my set from him.
Well .. I don’t know about that but if you have any tips .. would appreciate passing them on. It is hard to sit on this and limit playing time to 10 min a day but once the breakin period is over .. going to be played daily … probably multiple times.
Jim
I bought a new one from Phil in England just a couple of months ago, in blackwood, he seems as much concerned about the fipple wood in the mouthpiece getting too wet too quickly as he is about the body, when breaking in.
What a really good whistle it is, requires a fair bit of blowing power at the top end which I like, doesn’t break the lower octave like all my whistles even when using a lot of power, and has a lovely tone.
Beautifully made as well. Best whistle I’ve ever played.
A lot depends on what wood your whistle is made of. Tom’s Blackwood whistle will not absorb as much oil or moisture as one of the Apple wood high D’s and will require less maintenance. As far as oiling is concerned, I think its good to start with the Almond oil + Vit E because you cant really get this wrong - although keep it off the block in the wind way, it needs to be able to release the moisture it absorbs and oil will hinder this.
I have given the bore of my Bleazey one coat of tung oil - some will warn against this, but its safe if you apply a small amount evenly and remove any excess. Be confident you can do this right by learning to oil the bore with Almond oil first and you should have no problems with Tung or linseed. The advantage of tung/linseed is they are more effective you will need to re-oil a lot less.
For the outside I use an beeswax wood polish because it gives better protection and a nicer finish, just keep it out of the bore and finger holes and the fipple block.
Thats because Phil wants to sell you a second complete set in Olivewood. Now, theres an idea.
I’ve just ordered an A in Olive, I’ll let you know how great it is 