But after some hours in my dry climate living room it cracked with a loud sound, from top to bottom. The crack is 2-3 mm at the widest, and goes along the whistle at the opposite side of the finger holes.
I am NOT prepared to use a lot of effort and money to fix it. I’ve used duct tape on another one before, and that will probably be the case here too. The challenge will be to get the crack together again before using the tape. I plan to use a twine, and turn a little stick or something around the twine to tighten it. In this way I hope to force the crack together.
Then I will mistreat the whistle with the duct tape, and add bee wax were it is needed. I will remove the twine after I have placed duct tape around the whistle at bottom, waist, and top.
The reason for duct tape is that it is both strong to keep the whistle stable, and keep leakage away.
But when the whistle is so damaged, maybe the good sound has left it anyway…
But if you are adept with twine and bee’s wax (and maybe glue), maybe you could omit the duct tape? If four strategically-placed wrappings could seal it without interfering with the fingering or the fipple. That could actually look quite nice, too.
I am NOT prepared to use a lot of effort and money to fix it.
Beeswax is good, that’s what I’ve used, put some in the crack before tying it up and let the surplus squeeze out, but my binding material is 20lb (9kg) braided fishing line … fine enough to be inconspicuous but plenty strong enough for the job and does not stretch at all.
I suggest doing preliminary bindings in the “wrong place” to hold the crack together, then take the opportunity of not having to struggle to get a really neat repair, with all the turns of the binding nice and even, before removing the original temporary bindings. If you can be bothered, cutting/filing a shallow groove around the whistle to take the final binding can assist in preventing the repair slipping.
As MTGuru suggested, the resultant repair can actually look like it was meant to be there!
As always with this kind of thing, YMMV, but good luck
I hate it when that happens. I don’t know if it is worse to hear it happens or to pick up the flute after the incident to find it has cracked. Bad news either way.
I’d also suggest skipping the duct tape - although it is the handyman’s secret weapon.
The beeswax is a good idea.
Take a look at this video on binding a bamboo flute. It may give you some additional helpful ideas. The video uses clear nail polish to set the binding. I’ve used CA glue in place of that myself. YMMV And there are also a few videos out there on repairing cracks in bamboo/cane flutes you might want to check out as well. Here’s one. Might provide some methods on how to approach things.
Thank you guys for a lot of helpful suggestions! This video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENvxuTkJVwA come close to what I think would be needed in strength. But I’m sceptic, because it seems to need some experience to be done. And the process can’t be undone.
And my whistle is really bad cracked up, it is open daylight all the way through it…, it seems to need much to be kept together. The crack also goes right along the left side of the sound hole (which is underneath the whistle).
I consider colorless plastic strips in combination with bee wax. They can be tightened good, and taken off if it is not a success. One problem is that the end of the whistle is conic, it’s not easy to bet a grip for plastic strips there.
Another challenge is how to apply bee wax the whole distance of at almost 50 cm in a proper way. I wonder if too much of too cold wax would disturb the rejoining of the whistle? The tightening won’t be done in a minute. If I use plastic strips, I will need at least four or five of them.
Do you guys think I will get the magic sound back if I get the whistle tight together?
I’d just like to chip in and say i’d use cobblers wax instead. Used it on uilleann drone reeds and the stickiness of the wax on the slippery cane (bamboo) really helps getting a nice tight winding.
A small hose clamp or two might close the crack, but I"m thinking that it would open up again eventually. OTOH, if you place them strategically you could leave them on the whistle for a sort of steampunk look.
I like rubber bands for pulling it together
(slow steady constant pressure,
It make take a few days),
Sewing thread wrapped neatly at strategic places,
Super thin super glue to seal crack and thread
(applied last after removing the rubber bands).
Nail polish will seal the thread but not the crack.
You can rub the wax into the crack and
Scrape off the excess for the final touch.
If you were looking to keep it as original in appearance as possible one thing you may try is using epoxy glue as bamboo is a fairly porous material. You would likely need a relatively snug fitting piece of dowel or rod of some sort for the bore wrapped with a bit of PFTE plumbers teflon tape (since epoxy wont stick to the teflon) and then apply the glue to the break areas and clamp it together from the outside. The clamping process can similary be using the same tape to cover the seam area to prevent it from sticking onto whatever binding or method you use to hold it taught. Afterwards it will just need a bit of sanding when it’s fully cured and should more or less be good as (or better) than new with that repair joint as well as having a certain amount of flexibility for changes in environment (which can’t be said of most formulations of cyanoacrylate superglues).
All that being said it might not hurt to check with the purpose you bought it from to see if they had any better advice or repairwork/exchanges that could be done (seems a little short term duration for a newly bought instrument to bite the bullet).
If I could put in my two øre worth, have you considered not forcing the crack closed, but filling it with epoxy putty or something similar? Forcing it closed will put the wood back under the strain it had before it cracked and it will likely crack again. Filling it will leave the wood in the relaxed position it has found for itself. You could also try to shape a long thin piece of wood to glue into the crack. Binding with thread would still be a good idea.
Thank you for a lot of good advice, guys! Here are some answers, and at the bottom, my scary plan.
Alex, I bought it from my hairdresser… He bought it from a friend. I have no clue of the history of the whistle. I will ask for discount on my next haircut, or my next whistle…
Really a good thought, O’Brien! The trouble is that the crack is also through the edge of the sound hole, and through the mouth piece. This need to be tight as it was to get the sound back. Maybe it would be an idea to keep the rest of the whistle partly open, by filling in as you say. But I have a kind of idea of getting the wood together as it was, to get the sound as it was… I really loved the sound of it.
How would it be to oil this seemingly dry whistle now to prevent more cracks? After the repair? Before? Some has suggested almond oil earlier in this forum, is that the good thing to use?
Mack, you seem to have experience in how to tight it good together. You seem to say that the wood need time to settle together. I hope that my plans with strips and wax can do the same if I go after and tight it more later.
I’m not sure if I will go for the sewing part, I’m afraid that my lack of experience will make a bad repair, with no way back. I will avoid any advanced way that gives risk of not hearing the sound of my whistle again…
MY PLANS NOW ARE: (please give me warnings…)
-To heat up bee wax. Place the bee wax on each side of the crack in a thin layer.
-Cramp the whistle together with plastic strips 4-6 places.
-Have glue under the plastic strips at places where the whistle is slightly conical and the strip can lose position.
-Go after with bee wax on the surface of the cracks and tighten the strips more after some time.
-Maybe have some thread or ribbon to cover the plastic strips.
The idea is that the strips will keep the whistle enough together. And that the elastic texture of the wax will do the rest to block leakage.
I am a bit concerned that bee wax spill will disturb the air flow and sound.
I am a bit concerned that I won’t get the mouth peace and the sound hole proper together.
Started with bee wax only, and filled the crack which goes along the whole whistle. It worked well for some minutes, the magic sound was back. But the wax did not keep its volume.
Then I removed all the wax to prevent it from falling into the whistle, except from in the mouth piece. Then I had duct tape over the crack instead. The sound disappeared. It seems to be important to keep the crack filled, even under a surface sealing.
I need to use a material that keeps it shape, or to cramp the whistle together with some plumber cramps. To seal it seems to be better than to cramp it, because of the tension in the whistle. What about wood plastic? It needs to be elastic, and to stick to the wood in the whistle.
I think you’ve already been given the best answer, which is to bind with thread wrapping. Then force in wax (or perhaps hot or cold melt glue?) or waterproof glue, or Cyanolate (Super Glue). You can force glue into the crack using a syringe, or suction cup, then clean up any excess. For the inside, you can probably sand down the excess with sandpaper on a wooden dowel.
Agreed. Fixing a wooden instrument is really little different than setting a fractured bone. You need three things: a stabilizing agent, a fixing agent and a filling agent. The stabilizing agent can be temporary or permanent and is really intended to “hold everything in place” while the other two are being applied. The fixing agent is whatever is chosen to actually hold the fracture zone in a relatively stable position with regard to itself. If the wall is thick enough, you could use pins. Wire or thread wrapping also work (and the latter is common on oriental bamboo instruments). The filling agent is whatever is chosen to fill the gap.
I agree about not placing the bamboo under any further stress. When bamboo becomes dry, it is very prone to cracking. In the Philippines, where this instrument comes from, you don’t have to worry about that as it’s a relatively humid environment. There, I’d more worry about the thing sprouting rather than drying out! But in a drier environment, you will need to worry about another crack forming when the instrument is under post fixation stress. You should be able to gently approximate the surfaces, but I wouldn’t recommend closing the gap entirely – I think you would be setting yourself up for future heartbreak!
I also agree about shoving a dowel into the bore and finding a thin splint of wood or bamboo as a filling agent, along with a wood putty filler. There are a number of wood putties that have cyanoacrylate and I’ve used them to great effect on wooden recorders and whistles. When dry, the putty should be strong enough to hold both edges of the fracture together and can be sanded and stained, though I’d still place some good string or wire wrapping on there. That will help reduce the pressure on the rest of the bamboo.
This will, of course, change the geometry of the bore a little, so we can only pray that the magic won’t be lost entirely! However, two things are in your favor here: one is that the instrument is made of bamboo and the natural bore is already imperfect; and two, there is an inherent magic in just about anything made by a Filipino craftsman. I think the sound will be every bit as enchanting as before.
The question I’d have is: is the instrument worth all the work? I don’t have a picture of your instrument, but am imagining it might be a suling (also common in Bali, Indonesia, etc); or else less likely a tumpong or palendag, which are actual Philippine whistles. Palendag are really long and lack a block in the mouthpiece, so are played kind of like shakuhachi. Suling at least can be found all over Ebay, if you wanted to replace.
Is it a touristy “King Flute” kind of thing, or was it actually made for use in country?
This (link above) is the top of the whistle, it’s around 50 cm long. The crack follows all the way down, to a added piece at the bottom which narrows the end of the whistle.
The duct tape does not work alone to make proper sound. Probably because the crack alters the airflow within the flute. Maybe because the sound hole and mouth piece is altered. Anyway it worked well when I filled the crack with be wax, except it lasted only for a while, until the wax lost its shape.
My strange plan now is to try to fill the crack with this.
, a rubber band, just to imitate the original inner shape of the whistle. And then close the outside for leakage with duct tape or some other item.
Still I hesitate to force the whistle together again. I think O’Brien’s warning is wise, the whistle would may not handle the pressure. But if no filling strategy works, I have to force it. The main thing for me is to get the sound back.
No, I don’t recon’ any of the whistle you proposed. But I found the suling to be similar to my favorite of all whistles, sold to me in Albania as an Albanian whistle… I don’t even know if the cracked one really is a philippine one. I bought it from my hairdresser, he is from irak, he bought it from a friend here in Norway. I think the end piece that narrows the whistle, makes the special sound. Listen here: https://soundcloud.com/sverremac/filipino-flute-test-mono
No, it’s not worth a lot of money and work. I don’t want a neat repair, I just want the sound back. I know it’s possible, as it was with the bee wax, and partly has been with the duct tape. See my former reply about my unorthodox plans of using rubber band to fill inn, and then block leakage with tape… Plastic wood is the scary alternative… To fill inn solid wood, then I would need others to make the long narrow part for me…
Wow. I think that crack is in about the worst possible location! Looking at the picture, I think that if you DON’T close the gap fully, you’ll screw around with the geometry of the windway, and you’d be risking getting no sound at all, or perhaps a very poor sound.
I think if it were my whistle, I’d just shoot for full reapproximation of the fracture and hope for the best. I would suggest a series of test tube clamps would be ideal for the temporary fixation part of the operation, since they very gently hold extremely fragile tubes. Then fill the whole crack with wood putty – there’s nothing scary about it! You can just use a bit of scrap cloth to rub the stuff right in to the crack. (You’d have to clean the wax out first! – a gentle application with some of those hjelpestikken should melt the wax enough so you can rub the rest out with a cloth.) If you rub the excess putty off the whistle before it hardens, you won’t even have to sand it. Once the crack is filled and the putty dried and sanded a bit as needed, wrap the whole thing with good string as has been described already and she should be good as new. I would wrap it in as many places as feasible – certainly just below the window, above the finger holes and below the finger holes. And any other places you can get the wrapping! For this instrument, and the stresses you’d be placing it under, the wrappings will serve as a fixation device, like a splint, creating sufficient counter pressure so that, hopefully, the instrument won’t recrack in the same place or develop any new cracks. Just mind you don’t wind the string TOO tight! You don’t want to crush the wall of the whistle either!
I think if you can close that gap back down to zero, you will retain the original geometry of the windway and window – which is where that magical sound is generated in the first place.
