So, I notice what appears to be a hairline crack on my Abell Whistle. I just bought this Whistle and the previous owner a Harpist did not play the whistle much.
I had been playing the whistle a bunch for the past week. Anyhow this hairline appears about a 1/4 inch below the mouthpiece on the front and extends down 3/4 of an inch. I did remember the grain was somewhat open along the area where this crack was.
I took the whistle down to Neil Anderson, a local Instrument repair guy here in Greensboro. As it turned out it was actually a check, just extending a little ways in to surface. Neil was able to correct this just by sanding it down. What had happened was the saliva when I was playing dripped out of the mouthpiece opening and streamed down into the open pore area and caused the check.
I’ve never run into this before on a wooden whistle, but I wonder if anyone else has.
I think an open pore in that area, coupled with maybe not enough oil and not wiping the area , as well as to short of a break in period was the recipe for this problem. 
Many thanks to Neill Anderson for correcting this.
Anyone else run into this?
Ben Shaffer
It can happen, especially if the whistle was left un-played and not oiled much. But I would have hopped on I40 and visited that guy in Asheville to get his assessment. 
Feadoggie
The check was more likely opened up from overly hydrating the bore, due to too long playing during what should have been a break-in period. If you start playing a dry whistle for extended periods, the bore absorbs water, even if oiled, and the outside is dry. It takes a few weeks for the lower amount of moisture to spread through the wood, by by playing daily for short (20 min.) periods. Once the moisture is evenly distributed thoughout the wood, and the whistle is used to alternating wet and dry cycles, it will not check on the outside. With the bore expanding due to too much moisture in a dry instrument, it will expand more than the outside, causing checking and possibly a crack.
I actually did talk with Chris about it and he would have been willing to work on it.
However I am lucky to live in Greensboro, where the woodwind repairman Neill Anderson lives. he does this stuff all the time with Clarinets, etc. he is a 5 minute drive away and no danger of the Whistle getting damaged or lost in the mail.
Chris however is making a C body for the whistle, so I will be sending it on up to him when its ready
I know it 
I should have my ass whipped 
or as we say in the south, Have a come to Jesus Meeting! 
I’d be careful, Ben. The whistle sat here in dry, dry San Diego for 10+ years with - I’d guess, knowing the previous owner - no particular humidification. So, as Ted said, a meticulous break-in regimen is probably in order.
I know it 
yer preachin to the choir now
This has got me thinking, how many great Instruments are lying unplayed. 
Even more teasing many of the Owners would probably be glad to sell them
In the case of a thin walled wooden whistle, there’s not much distance between the bore and the outside surface. A check can easily extend all the way into the bore.
The way I repair these is to run some thin cyanoacrylate glue onto the crack. When it’s fully dry, I carefully scrape off the excess. Then I mount the piece on the lathe and sand and refinish the whistle. Do not try this at home 
That said, I don’t humidify any of my instruments at all. Here in the Northeast, it’s bone dry indoors in the winter and pretty humid in the summer, but I haven’t had any cracking problems with my own instruments (except for a whistle of Snakewood which is notoriously prone to cracking). With about 450 whistles out in various parts of the world, I’ve only had a few returned for crack repairs apart from traumatic injuries. In short, don’t stress over the humidity and break-in thing too much.