Hi folks
I have been whistling for a while and have now decided to try fluting. I ordered a McGee flute but am on a 15 month waiting list. I saw an Olwell bamboo flute on the market a short while ago and decided to get it so as to get my hand in while waiting for the McGee flute. I am struggling somewhat to consistently produce proper notes but when they do come they sure sound nice.
I am wondering about the care of this bamboo flute. It doesn’t seem to have been oiled inside and I am wondering if it should be oiled like an ordinary wooden flute. I use a sweet almond oil for my wooden whistle and wonder if this would be suitable for the bamboo flute.
Any knowledgeable advice would be appreciated.
Best regards, John
E-mail with attachment sent.
Best wishes.
Steve
I also have a bamboo flute on it’s way, would be interested in the info as well… Thanks!
E-mail/attachment to eskin also.
Best wishes.
Steve
I’d be interested in this info too! Cheers!
The material I’ve come across is included in an e-mail attachment. Send me an e-mail with your address and I’ll forward it to you.
Best wishes.
Steve at comcast dot net
hi gariwerd,
I lived in Melbourne for a cumulative 3 years in the 70’s and I can vouch that I never oiled any of my (then) set of little bamboo flutes (including dizi) without any problems. In fact prior to losing all my teeth around then and my flute playing ceasing until I could afford a proper set of dentures some years later, I had done a recording ffor a small film featuring animation of sumie painting.
I have since learned that bamboo loves humidity and whilsoever there is humidity the bamboo is fine as it is with moisture from your playing. With the wet Melbourne winters and my humid Sydney summer breaks I had no problems.
The danger for bamboo is dryness and especially sudden dryness. This happened to me once about 5 years ago when I went from a humid Sydney to the Blue Mountains which were having a dry cold snap at a time when I wasn’t consistent with precautionary oiling. Another problem is if they havent been wetted by regular playing and the bamboo than experiences severe changes in humidity.
I can imagine that in a country like Ireland or England both of which I have visited one would never need to oil a bamboo flute played regularly (?). However in SE Australa with our sudden weather shifts I prefer to oil all my umpteen bamboo at the end of autumn and at the end of spring.
As you will see from https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/questions-for-almond-oil-fanatics/73909/1 I am an almond oil fanatic. Some bansuri makers prefer walnut oil and many mustard oil (also high in heat stable monunsaturated fat) is commonly used in India.
Anyway, are you able to see what Olwell says about the care of his bamboo flutes?
And welcome to these forums. I assure you that I am not representative of its membership. 
Second this. Humidify and that’s about it. Also Patrick O will know the score. Just call him.
I agree.
Just play the thing once or twice a week. I never do anything nice to mine.
Doc
I have an incantation that seems to work for my bamboo flutes. Oh yes, as Doc says, it doesn’t hurt to keep them humidified, as well. I’m not sure which is more important.
Not that I don’t go the incantation route…but I’d pick humidity.
not dropping them helps quite a bit also
Entirely optional and I do think that wrapping more or less tightly with thread (Elmer’s glue) some sections of the flute
can help keep it from cracking and also protect it if dropped. I do have an A Olwell that I wrapped because there was a crack (not all the way
through yet) and it’s held together for years. Don’t know if I’d do it to an Olwell in good shape, though,
as they are beautiful looking as is.
Wasn’t it one of the early Romans who said, “To wrap, or not to wrap, that is the question”. I think he was talking about tunics, though. With it below freezing outside right now, I vote for staying wrapped up. On days like this my mother used to say, “Put on your wraps,” and I think that that is pretty good advice for bamboo flutes, too.
Monty Levenson of Tai Hei Shakuhachi (one of the top US shakuhachi makers and resources) has some stuff on his site about caring for bamboo. He also sells a pretty awesome “flute saver kit” that involves a hygrometer and an automatic hydrating system, as well as some other stuff to keep good care of bamboo flutes. You can easily find him by internet search. By the way, he says that humidity is a potential problem for bamboo, contrary to some other comments above. I’m sure there’s more to it, so I’m not suggesting the comments above are wrong, just that there may be more to it. I would think an Olwell flute of any kind is worth some care!
Best,
Jaydoc
Self-interested P.S.: If anyone’s interested in another type of bamboo flute, I’m selling an entry-level Tai Hei Shakuhachi on the Used Instruments and World Woodwinds discussion boards, for about $100 (I bought an advanced student shak, much more costly).
Not if you understand the implication of what he says and what he is promoting, namely, a “flute saver” which maintains humidity at 45-55%! He specifies that there is a problem with FLUCTUATIONS in humidity, not humidity per se.
see http://www.shakuhachi.com/Q-Acc-FluteSaver.html
This is what I am talking about if you go from sub tropical weather with ambient 70% humidty to a cold dry snap with less than 20% or from a rainy day to hot dry westerly winds the next day (as can occur in Australia).
I have to say that I’ve had my Olwell bamboo for around 8 years now and haven’t done much to it at all. I think I may have oiled it twice in that whole time with no cracking or other issues. Humidity in the room it’s been in for the last 5 years or so is between 40% and 60% most of the time.
Might just be lucky but they seem to be pretty maintenance free as far as I can tell.
Thanks for all the friendly advice given in this topic.
And best wishes for the New Year.
fwiw, from what i understand the olwell flutes are made from cane harvested from florida. mine were thin wall and never needed care for them. they survived very low winter rh conditions, and hi summer rh conditions without problems. they did not need oil.
i also have a couple of south american made flutes made from what appears like a bamboo type material and they also survive the elements without problems. they do not need oil.
but then i had a couple of thicker walled bamboo shakuhachi flutes made in japan that did crack. both had laquered bores. one of the previous owner said that he kept it well hydrated in a plastic bag and that is how they roll in the shaku world. since i was not playing it much i neglected to keep the bag well hydrated all the time and the thing eventually developed a big split.