First time this ever happened where I can’t move the head at all. I had just wanted a minor adjustment for comfort and it wouldn’t budge. Tried a bit of Vaseline and then pull and twist with rubber gloves - nothing. Any ideas? I should add it’s a brass head stuck to a sterling silver tube. Thanks.
Not much help I’m afraid, but 2 metals of different varieties will most likely always do this if left in contact without movement for an extended period of time.
Since the bonding is chemical, perhaps brute force is the only way. I’m not certain hot water will have much effect in this case.
Brute force may be it, but, be very careful not to damage the fipple with all that twisting and pulling.
I have a few ideas that might help.
spray some WD40 and see if that loosens it.
Next maybe try a little heat with a blow dryer or some hot water poured over the stuck area.
If you are concerned about crushing the silver tube see if a wood dowel might fit inside. I am afraid that you would have to use a 1/2 dowel and then carfully sand it until it is small enough to fit inside without getting stuck causing further problems.
Another idea would possibly to contact a jeweler for advise or possibly to hire him to do the job.
YMMV
Good luck!
Nate
That can happen with a silver mouthpieces on a brass trumpet - in fact any silver mouthpiece in a brass tube. I am sure the Internet has a lot of suggested solutions for that. Heat versus cold, natural expansion and contraction might do it. Otherwise, a good woodwind repair tech might be able to help. I doubt the standard mouthpiece puller tool would help but it might be adaptable.
I’d go gentle with other home remedies, personally.
Feadoggie
Thanks all; I have a friend who’s a master of tricky joinery and have asked him to reverse that skill for this. Worst case, it’s frozen in the position I’ve been playing it in for the last 5 or so years. Yes, I’m much more relaxed now after the 12 year old Macallans.
Yikes !
From Wikipedia, the thermal expansion coefficient of brass is slightly larger than silver (about 6% greater). With that in mind, here’s a way to cool the barrel and warm the head:
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Cool the barrel in water (cold tap water? ice bath ?).
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Heat a damp towel in the microwave. Good and warm.
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Wrap towel around the head. Grip, pull, pray, etc…
Hope you find a way !
trill
My Sindt brass head an body were stuck together for about three years - all gone green and shit in the joint. In the end i got some bandage tape, the real thick sticky stuff that like cloth, and wrapped loads around the tube and loads around the head so i had something substantial to grip onto. It worked a treat. Tape the tube as close to the head as possible to prevent any twisting or bending of the tube. YMMV with the silver tube though.
My nicotinic vapourization device always gets stuck together. What I do is get a clamp from the garage and I put a soft washcloth over where I’m clamping so it doesn’t hurt the surface. Then I have that clamped steady so no pulling on the other half will move the part that is clamped. Then I get some of those rubbery things that old people use to help open jars. I use those to grab the other side and I twist, sometimes with pliers if it’s ultra-stuck.
Even with a layer of protection between the clamp/pliers and the surface of what I’m getting unstuck, this can still leave a teeny bit of a mark on the surface. Not sure if I’d try this with a whistle or not, but it worked pretty well for me getting things unstuck. You could try a bit more gentle of a version of this, along with ice in the body, and heat applied to the head. I think that might very well do the trick.
I agree with what has been said. Changing the relative temperature levels of the body and mouthpiece so that the body shrinks and the head grows slightly is probably the way to go. You might sit the bottom of the body in a glass of ice water for several minutes, then dunk just the mouthpiece in hot water for a few seconds, then twist & pull.
Maybe even cover with a towel and tap the joint with a hammer while turning slowly to loosen it up.
If you’re really worried you can take it to your local woodwind repair shop. I’ve taken things to Marsh woodwinds here in Raleigh for all manner of repairs. Sometimes if it’s really easy & quick they do it for free (like when my Boehm flute’s mouthpiece didn’t fit snugly on its body).
Once you have figured out the hot vs cold angle, ask a friend who is an archer if they have a Gorilla Grip arrow puller that you can borrow. Of course you might need two.
They are rubber grips used to pull arrows out of a target by allowing you to apply more force to your grip. They work really well.
I have an old Gorilla Grip that I wrapped around my D whistle and I think it would work.
If you want to buy one or two, shop around. I see prices ranging from $5 - $20.
Good luck!
Mike
Got it with a combo of above carefully applied techniques; then cleaned the gunky deposits out of the head; no damage anywhere. I guess when you really do play primarily one whistle every day you tend to leave it in one piece tuned where you want it. Checked other metal whistles (Copelands, etc.) and no problems. The two different metals thing is something to be aware of. Thanks all as always.
Well, is it for sale now? 
Let’s see…with restorative labor…hold on I need to get a bigger calculator… 
