Hi,
has anybody ever used jojoba oil for oiling wooden whistles or flutes?
Sonja
For whistles so healthy, they shine.
Jojoba oil is considered an environmentally correct replacement for whale oil in the lubrication of fine (metal) mechanisms. I don’t know that it shouldn’t be used on wood but, intuitively, I would be disinclined to use it so, as I would be disinclined to use linseed or almond oils on metal.
Deane H.
I remember jojoba oil being used as gear transmission oil on trucks and city buses in California. This implies high viscosity, high stability and little if any drying.
Don’t see how it would help wood. Maybe for the gear change on the Boehm Busman Kingwood (aka BBKing)? 
here’s a few options:
-try neatsfoot oil
- try a hygrometer, and keep the needle around 65. avoid humidity changes as much as possible
-whipe the inner bore dry after playing.
lixnaw,
I’m familiar with wooden instruments and their care. I was really asking if anybody had ever tried jojoba oil, and whether it is good for the wood or not (being non-drying, essentially a liquid wax etc.), given that some people recommend mineral oil as well.
Sonja
in that case i’m with zub, and i promise i won’t bother you again
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=14414&highlight=oil
Don’t get cross with skh–it’s just her style of rhetorics. Eventhough she already warned…
I’m sure Sonja’s a-bitchin’ is just overcompensation, for deep inside she’s a softie (and cutie-pie)… 
zub, i didn’t get cross nor intended to. i’m just trying to help in giving my opinion.
this board would be very poor if we couldn’t do this. 
what about shea butter? look under jqpublick’s post Oiling reeds? - Uilleann Pipes - Chiff & Fipple
and i’m not cross now either
Huh - what? A-bitchin’, me? Sorry, didn’t mean to. Really.
Sonja
hey, hey, peace! no big deal!
All I meant was Sonja may write at times answers which seem… is “curt” the word?
Also, she and I are both foreign to English language (so I reckon for Sonja), and may mishandle it from time to time. For instance I’m often at loss with the proper use of prepositions, and misplace them more than often. Typically should one say “crossed by someone”, or “cross against someone”? etc.
In German, it seems people tend to voice their opinions in a more straightforward–no frills–way. English is so much more–how to say this? diplomatic or PC?–so when German gets translated into (to? 
) English, it may sound brutally blurted out, when it really isn’t. See Sonja’s “signature” (Shut up…) for illustration.
And I won’t even try and get in the nuances of common English, Merikun English, English English, or my wog’s “angliche”.
ok, Maul zu, Paul
Right. I was in weekly (techie/business) conference calls with mostly american speakers of english for a bit over a year, and while I learned a lot, I never really managed that pink fluffy padding of conversation and behaviour that seems so natural to them (and it took me a while to find out that a mildly expressed concern is actually quite severe). English and Scottish were a bit easier, the sense of humour is closer to ours (or mine, at least). I can also imagine how barbaric and impolite we (germans) must seem to americans, so if any of you plan to come over, beware… I actually prefer the honest and direct way of communication I grew up with.
See Sonja’s “signature” (> Shut up…> ) for illustration.
That’s actually derived from the title of a Frank Zappa album called “Shut up 'n play yer guitar”, shortened only because I couldn’t decide on whether to put ‘flute’ or ‘whistle’ in there. But then, Mr. Zappa is hardly the prototype of an nice American Guy.
Sonja
Why, how very American, of you, Z! Or one could also write, “…answers which seem, shall we say, curt?”
On topic: yes, Sonja, I’ve been oiling my wooden flutes with jojoba to no ill effect. I don’t know if tung or almond oils are really to be preferred other than that they are tried and true. It was originally an experiment, and I stuck with it for better or worse. I can’t recommend it, of course, especially in in light of makers’ care instructions.
I do have a little understanding of wood treatment, having been in the miniature cabinetry business more years ago than I care to admit. The trick is to overcome swelling and shrinkage based in atmospheric conditions of moisture and temperature. With whistles, we’re further restricted in our choices by the need to be non-toxic, which means we should not use tung oil, and be very circumspect about linseed if the mouthpiece or fipple plug is wood. Inorganic oils, “mineral oil” is also somewhat suspect.
What you want is an oil that will not kill you, will keep your whistle from drying out, and keep moisture from affecting it.
For all the best properties above stated, I would have to recommend the use of Rootes Group “ATF” (Automatic Transmission Fluid), with a pretreatment to remove the red colouring dyes. Dunk the whistle(s) in this, boil for five days or so, while sniffing the fumes on a regular basis. Problem solved!
Yes, dammit, I’m kidding! 
serp
( Follow the manufacturer’s instructions, you Knnnnigggggettt!!!)
Hi Sonja
Many “cork wax” products are made with a blend of Jojoba Oil and Beeswax. Place a lump of beeswax in a tin cup and set it in a pan of water. Heat the water until just below boiling and melt the wax. add 25 percent Jojoba Oil for a thick soft wax or 50 percent for a thin soft wax. let cool after mixing. Use this wax heated/melted for a deep internal bore conditioning or use it cool for a good internal/external surface conditioner.
You can also substitute Almond,Seasame,Lemon,Orange Oil etc. Adding alcohol to the melted wax will add to the deep penetration. Use of this conditioner will solve many swelling and splitting problems with wooden instruments.
Thomas Hastay.