Sorry to hear that Zub, but the wait will be worth it. Actually it might be a good bet that Chas’s low F is in that batch.
I did check my PMs but nothing was there. A few of us have noticed that not all messages we send or were supposed to receive get through. Perhaps we should check with Rich. This might be about the tenth message to be sent to me in the last month or so that I didn’t receive—that’s apart from any I might not know about.
I agree ,Redwolf. Oil won’t hurt the fittings, but at least on my whistles, the fittings are epoxied in place and I would worry about over oiling loosening the bond. Wooden whistles absorb a lot of oil in the beginning-- often that first coat of oil vanishes right before my eyes. However, the oil does not evaporate, so eventually the wood simply won’t absorb much more at all. If soaking works for Mr. Grinter, more power to him, but I think it’s a bit of overkill. I also agree about not getting oil in the windway. Makes moisture bead up like it does on a freshly waxed car, and these little round droplets are exactly what causes clogging.
Me two-bits:
Totally different materials are involved in “wood” whistles.
Many American wood whistle makers, like Abell (this I can see), Thin Weasel (I reckon), Busman (from what I read) use a windway which top is a metal sleeve, and bottom a synthetic (often Delrin) plug. Basically, the only wooden part in their windways are the narrow sides.
Michael Grinter has a similar blueprint of windway, but not the same materials: the plug is cedar, the outer sleeve same wood as the whistle body. In this case, the cedar will absorb quite a bit of oil, and M. Grinter doesn’t ask to do the “soaking” after break-in.
One American which could give good advice for such all-wood construction might be Fred Rose, couldn’t he?
When I first had my Grinter, I had immediate throat irritation when playing it.
I suspected the cocobolo first, but since my lips where ok, it didn’t fit.
Then I started wondering about the possible dust of cedar wood from the block (it did look like raw wood), since I do tend to take quick breathes through the windway (sucking in)…
So I oiled the windway as Michael Grinter prescribes. This stopped immediately the annoying throat irritations.
Make of this what you want.
Yeah, that Mollenhauer official translation sucks.
The salient infromation:
Linseed is fast-drying but some people hate the smell. You can also use “sweet” almond oil, which is odorless but less suitable for porous woods because of its lack of viscosity. Linseed is better for porous timbers. If you want to oil often, use almond rather than linseed, or use a very thin coat of linseed.
So actually, Mollenhauer would use linseed on everything and almond if you want to oil frequently or hate the smell of linseed. I assume sweet almond oil is almond oil without drying agents . . . ? Like from a health food store.
Claudine, et al, die anderen Leute die Deutsch sprechen können . . . hab’ ich das gut übersetzt?
Stuart
Yes, the translation is very good.
The new material Mollenhauer developed for block is porous to absorb moisture, but doesn’t expand at all (cedar does very little which is why it is used for blocks at all). If it didn’t need to absorb, they could simply use any plastic they liked without going through all the inventing and engineering and patent hassle.
I’m investigating now, though. One of my recorders (ebony) once cracked in the head because of the cedar expaning faster than the surrounding wood (I was practising for an exam back then), so I’m well aware of the problem, and this thread made me curious.
Wood whistlers and wood whistle makers: how much space is between the block and the roof of the windway on your whistle?
Sonja
Of course! Sorry. Goes to show that you shouldn’t believe everything you see in the Internet! 
Yes. It dries, and it can accumulate and create blobs.
[quote="sturobYeah, that Mollenhauer official translation sucks.
Just for laughs , I copied the Mollenhauer translation into www.freetranslation.com and asked for a free German to English translation. What I got was:
A härtendes plant oil very fast Leinöl, whose smell is perceived by however of many an as unpleasant, is. One can use also sweet almond oil for the flute care. It is odorless, is suited however for großporige woods not so because it is right dünnflüssig. Leinöl better is suited there. He who frequently would like to oil, takes better almond oil or carries the Leinöl very thinly on. Ö
Hope this clears everything up…
BTW-- these free translation websites can be a lot of fun. Try entering something very familiar such as the Gettysburg Address, translating it into , say, French and then pasting that translation back in and translating it back to English. The results are often hilarious. Song lyrics are good— In a Gadda Da Vita totally baffles them…
Y’know, there are some members here who are, er, younger than you an I, and might be baffled too with your references 
Great drums solo, though…
Y’know, there are some members here who are, er, younger than you an I, and might be baffled too with your references
Great drums solo, though…
Or as opposed to bitter almond oil. You probably wouldn’t like the taste of the latter… Btw, doesn’t it contain some cyanide?
Now I’m yet to find anyone actually marketing bitter almond oil… 