Got hold of a little true West Indies cocus wood.
Nice stuff, works like a dream, sweet tone .. damn expensive tho, and woodlore has this stuff as a major carcinogen - the old flute makers would place a silver lip-plate to prevent cancer of the lip.
Very pretty stuff! IN the pic it looks a lot like Mopane. Try that timber if you haven’t already. It takes a really glassy finish with virtually no sanding. Lots cheaper too, I’ll wager..
Hi Mitch - pretty tooter! Trying to scare off anyone from wanting it so you’ve an excuse to keep it for yourself?
Seriously, in all the years I’ve had and read about wooden flutes, I’ve never heard that particular worry. The usual story is that many people are allergic to cocus or the oils in it, some very seriously so, and that is the logic behind the metal lip-plate seen on some antique flutes - and indeed some modern-made ones for folk with that problem, which is real for a small minority. Some, once sensitised, can’t even handle cocuswood for long without skin rashes and potentially worse reactions. However, the vast majority of C19th flutes were made of cocuswood and a good many early C20th Bohm ones too - and they don’t have lip-plates, and don’t cause cancer of the lip or anywhere else, and most players suffer no reaction to them. I’ve played my R&R for over 25 years with no ill effects and I know plenty of other fluters with similar experience. Lip cancer in general is not an industrial disease of flute players. It may be that constant workshop exposure to cocuswood dust might be carcinogenic (most likely to lungs and nasal passages, I’d have thought, though I don’t think there’s ever been any suggestion the London flute makers of the C19th and 1st half of the C20th who used it all the time lost workers to cancer caused by their trade) as well as more likely to engender development of an allergy (like happened to Loren and others who are members of C&F). Much the same can be said of many other tropical hardwoods (such as you use), but just intermittent, even if prolonged skin contact to seasoned timber…I’ve never heard of it causing cancer…
Hmmm … I’ll go back to my source on the carcinogen thing. I have also heard conflicting reports about whether West Indies cocuswood is truly extinct - maybe someone can add to that.
Certainly, the wood has an overpowering odor: after cutting this wood it took about 2 weeks and several thorough cleanings to get the cocus smell out of my workshop. While working it I used a vapor filter on my mask - the dust filter did not block the smell. Not that it’s an unpleasant smell … just powerful. This piece was soaked in sealant multiple times before finishing - partly to retain the interesting figure, but mostly to imobilise the volatile oils in the wood. The metal beak is sterling silver and the wood-frame of the windway is double-sealed. It was certainly interesting to work with this wood - the consistency in the grain made it a pleasure to carve and the resulting tone puts it into the top tonewood category in my book. But I am unlikely to get any more of it, so it will remain a curiosity - a bit of a whimsy really.
Paul, Mopane? - I will give it a go on your recomendation. Is this the African “butterfly tree”?
The cocuswood whistle is reserved for a buyer, but will be part of my exhibition at the Australian National folk festival this Easter along with a few other special exhibits. Being part of the Instrument Makers display is faintly embarrasing - in amongst all the harps, boxes, dulcimers, guitars etc, I find myself asking the organisers “erm .. do you have a smaller table?” 
Sorry Mitch, the wood just doesn’t grab me anymore; took out that delrin and sterling whistle you made me and realized one doesn’t really need anything more. it’s lovely…lovely…lovely (and maintenance free). Thanks again.
Philo
Hmmm… I never heard it called Butterfly Tree, but apparently it’s leaves ARE butterfly shaped:
Ye gods, Mitch. Your whistles are a joy to look at. I understand they’re a fair bit of fun to toot on, too. When I have the spare cash (and permission from the wife) I fully intend to purchase one from you. It’s way above my level of play, to be sure, but they’re just so darned beautiful. I’ll grow into it… 
I suspect a possible confusion of “allergen” with “carcinogen”???
As for extinction, I’m sure I recall a thread here or maybe somewhere else within the last year on the availability of cocuswood - I seem to recall someone saying the actual plant is a common hedge-planting in Jamaica. If so, presumably there’s no issue over species survival and maybe even future sustainable cropping (pretty long-term, I’d guess!), but (ethically) available mature large timber…well, that is likely a very different story.
Back to allergies, this snippet is interesting (there’s an article in the same series on allergens in Australian blackwood/Acacia melanoxylon, BTW) and this late C19th newspaper article.
This N. Carolina Health & Safety document on wood dusts mentions Brya Ebanus only as a dermatitis-causing allergen, and here’s an article on occupational problems of musicians.
I also found a whole string of references to the allergy/dermatitis problems in dermatological sources with a Google search on “cocuswood allergy”.
Of course, Rockstro in his great (late C19th) Treatise on the Flute mentions cocuswood allergy or at least, sensitivity (“allergy” wasn’t a popular or even well-known in medicine concept back then) - if I remember aright in the contexts both of extolling its virtues as a flute tone-wood and also when praising Ebonite as a substitute and the way forward!
Aha! googling “cocuswood carcinogen” gets us there: here’s an Aussie H&S document which says all wood dusts are classed as carcinogenic, but then in detailed references only mentions cocuswood as a dermatitis causer.
Also this on wood toxins - again only mentioning the dermatological effects, and in this French survey (if I understand it aright at a quick browse) cocus is given a low rating as a substance not currently classifiable as a human carcinogen but for which there may be in vitro or animal study evidence of carcinogenic effect at a level that does not make it classifiable without further research. (There is a reference to an equivalent French document on wood dusts causing respiratory or skin sensitivity, but I haven’t chased that one down…)
Enough?
Have a great time at the festival, Mitch! I think Ben Stewart was going to be there as well and hopefully a few other Aussie whistle-makers as well. Hope to see some pics!
Lovely, carcinogenic or not!
Tom
so… i saw the pic… then i saw the link to the mitch’s website… then i played the video of mr. hinnigan… i know what my next whistle is… without a doubt…
uhm… mitch? what is your waiting list looking like these days?
be well,
jim (future Oz owner)
Hi Mitch,
I can see you’ve got your hands on some more beautiful wood, what a whistle!
The Masur bjørk ( curly birch ) whistles you made for me have had time to be played.
These beautiful whistles are a dream to play and to look at, both have their own personalities, and the C really has a unique tone, although having a soft rounded sound, it really cuts through in a powerful way. It’s difficult to explain, but i haven’t played any other whistle like this one. Clean, soft, powerful, responsive, it vibrates whilst playing giving me a great feedback, i just love this whistle.
I will post some pictures of these beauties next week if i can work out how to post pictures ??
Thank you Mitch
jemtheflute, many thanks - that is most helpful! I am glad it is allergen not carcinogen - still makes sense to mask-up and seal-off. The Tasmanian blackwood also has a lot of caveats associated with it, - I do use the stuff, but it is more suited to guitars than whistles.
Steamwalker, yes - Ben will be there, also Erle Bartlett. In addition to this, Terry McGee, Andy Rigby and Ian Simpson are usually at the Nash in one capacity or another and might be spotted in one of the many sessions - hopefully Brad Anderson will be there as well (Brad?)
Here’s the list of exhibitors (that I know of):
Mark Aspland; Cajon (drum)
Gillian Alcock; Hammer dulcimer
Doug Eaton and Dale Jacobsen; Guitars, ukes, mandos zukes etc.
Erle Bartlett; Whistles
Ray Berketa; Guitars
Ray Black; acoustic and electric instruments
Craig Chan; NA flutes (I think)
John Copley; Guitars
Alan Funk; Banjos
Joe Gallacher; Guitars
David Guscott; Electric fiddles
Peter (Stormy) Hyde; Accordions;
Phil Kearney; Irish bouzouki etc
Brandden Lassells; Harps
John Liddy; Guitars, Mandos
Mitch Smith; Goat
Jack Spira; Guitars
Ben Stewart; Whistles
Richard Troughear; Appalachian dulcimers
Harry Wass; Period instruments (hurdy gurdy et al)
Gillian Weiss; Harp
David Worthy; Guitars
Nick Carpenter (Wildwood - guitars, mandos, fiddles etc) might have his market stall there Also Tareq (Hide and Clay tablas/djembes/middle eastern percussion, Neys, Kavals etc).
jiminos, at the moment, waiting time is around 6-months. It’s very approximate - Things take as long as they take.
chrisp, I am glad the masur bjørk whistles are working out. I like to think they retain a little “Viking” personality 
With any luck, I’ll have a C, D and Eb at my display.
To post pics, you need to get the file onto the web as an addressable URL - if you don’t have your own website/domain, there are some photo-hosting websites that provide this service for free. Alternately, you could email the pics to me - I can upload them to my site and let you know the URLs to post here.
Hi Mitch
Thanks for the info i’ll have a go postng the pic’s next week. i’ll be in touch if i can’t do it.
Talking about poisonous woods, i posted a topic on laburnum a while back, how toxic is a ten year old seasoned piece of wood? It’s not like you’re going to eat it 
and the wooden parts are not really in your mouth. Laburnum is highly toxic if consumed, i only assume when freshly cut. How toxic can this wood be ten years old and sealed.??
I’ve got a lovely 10 year old chunk of this beautiful hardwood if interested
I don’t remember from the one OZ that I tried, but if Mitch’s design is like mine, there IS a very thin rim of wood that does go into your mouth. Probably not enough that toxicity is an issue. To be safe, you might want to seal that part with several layers of polyurethane. Mitch, I have other ideas for that potential problem if you’re interested.
beautiful whistle there Mitch. I would love to try one out some day in the near future.
Hi Paul - always glad to learn more!