Recently, I reviewed a Feadog & Feadog Pro. Since then, a few people have posted that their heads have cracked for various reasons. My own heads have cracked as well. I posted some pictures in another thread but wanted to give this topic it’s own thread to hopefully catch as wide an audience as possible.
here’s some selected posts from the other thread:
Has anyone else experienced a cracked Feadog head like this? I’m beginning to suspect that there may be a weakness in the whistle head and would like to let the guys over at the Feadog company know about it if that’s the case. I’d also feel bad if folks bought Feadogs based upon my review if they were going to crack shortly after purchase.
If you’ve got a new Feadog, please share your experiences!
Actually this kind of defect is common to molded plastic parts. The weakness is formed when the plastic meets itself at the farthest place from the gate, or entrance of plastic into the mold. This type of defect has a specific name, although it eludes me now. It is caused by the plastic not joining itself properly. This is usually caused by a fault with temperature, or injection speed, or both.
Just checked my Feadog (bought it in early May). Sure enough, it has a slight crack. I probably wouldn’t have noticed it yet, but it’s there–about like the picture of the black Feadog head (where it almost looks like a scratch), but running the same length as the picture of the green one and in the same area.
A large number whistleheads of various brands I’ve inspected have a line that looks like a crack where the molten resin meets at the top of the mold. In most cases, even though it looks like a crack, it isn’t a crack and never develops into a crack. However, as you can see from the photos, sometimes the whistlehead does fail along that line. I can’t tell from the top photo if there’s an open crack there or just the line that looks like a crack.
My very first whistle was a Feadog my Dad brought back from Ireland over 20 years ago, and it developed a slight crack on its backside. I repaired it with JB Weld, and it works fine.
(I have some molding exp. having run the molding department where I work for 2 years. I am no technical expert on molding though I was the production supervisor)
Paul Busman put me onto a really thin superglue that will do the capillary-action thing well - I ran out and tossed the bottle, but hey, Paul, what was the name of that? Since then, I just warm the area of the crack or other void, and put a drop of just about any of the truly liquid cyanoacrylate (Super Glue) adhesives on it, and they tend to heal.
In the case of the Feadog head (mine hasn’t cracked after around 6 years), I’d suggest VERY carefully removing from the body, gluing the crack and rubber-banding it shut, then later gently fitting it back on the whistle with more glue. If it’s real tight, then put some 320 grit sandpaper on a dowel rod and use that to gently ream out the end where the whistle seats, until it is merely snug, not real tight.
Kind of a lot to go through for an inexpensive whistle? Well, hey, people who like 'em like 'em, and for you, they’re worth the trouble! That’s how I’d fix mine if it cracked!
Cheers,
Bill Whedon
It’s likely that the brass is fitting tight enough to cause the weak part of the mold to crack. A way to fix this is to take the head off, removed some of the material with an Exactol knife and reattach the head with a soft glue or teflon tape. This will relieve the pressure and prevent the cracks from getting larger.
The brass can expand slightly due to heat. In fact, the method of removing heads by steam and hot water could crack a weak Feadog head.
A similar thing happens on flute headjoints. Many good wood flute makers will actually turn down some of the brass/nickel-silver material in the tuning joint so that the wood can expand and shrink.
John, on that JB Weld, that’s strong stuff. Good idea.
Here’s the reply from Mr. Paul McCarron from Feadog:
Dear Cristian,
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I haven’t received any other reports of the mouthpieces cracking however we like to take all incidents of this very seriously. We have stringent quality controls in place that help ensure that defective whistles do not reach the end consumer.
Sometimes stresses in the plastic mouthpieces only become evident after a period of time. This means that there could be weaknesses in the mouthpiece, which then crack after they have been subjected to certain stresses. Feadóg do not recommend that you move the mouthpiece. This can damage the mouthpiece and cause it to crack unless the utmost care is used. However it is very rare for it to crack if care is taken.
On all plastic mouthpieces a small line will be evident (looks like a very small scratch). This is were the plastic meets in the mould. This should not be a cause for worry as this should never develop into a crack, it is simply part of the moulding process. However if the mouthpiece is stressed by movement or in some cases, extreme temperatures, a crack can develop along this line. Though as I said, this would be very rare.
Therefore you should encounter no problems with your whistle. However in the unlikely event that your mouthpiece does crack, I will be delighted to replace it for you. Thank you once again for bringing this to my attention and please keep me informed of any further developments.
If there is anything else I can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact me.
