On a couple of my whistle that I have made tunable I am getting air leaking out between the head and the shaft. No obviously the reply to that is: plumber’s tape, teflon tape or whatever you call it. The thin white stretchy stuff. Fine.
But how do I get it on there right? Either it doesn’t stick, or it bunches up in a little useless silicon sausage, or it so thick that it get’s pushed down when I stick the head back on. On one whistle I got it to stick by overlapping it, but then it was too think and after I jammed the head back on the whistle was unbearably sharp and the head immovable (it wouldn’t be moved even by my bitter tears).
How about plumbers silicone grease? It’s a thick grease that must be non-toxic since you put it into faucet valve cartridges. The stuff would be stiff enough to stay in place. It certainly would ease the tuning movement but I would only use it on whistles that move stiffly lest it make the tuning slip at the wrong time.
I haven’t had occasion to try this myself, but I’ve noticed that Serpent uses beeswax for this and says it’s much better than teflon tape. Maybe he’ll chime in with more specific information about how to use it.
With the beeswax, you just get a small hunk of it and rub it on the joint… a little goes a long ways, otherwise it gets too thick and sticky and hard to slide back together.
Bloom,
Very slightly moisten the tube and make one clockwise wrap of the Teflon tape. Terminate the wrap by stretching the tape until it tears, and press the tattered end down, twisting in the same clockwise direction. You’ll only need one tiny layer of the stuff, because as you put the head on, it will bunch up in the annular space.
As U2 pointed out, the secret to the tape is to stretch it very tight. Also, if you note the direction that you wrapped, and then install the head with a slight twist that same direction, it will tend not to bunch up so bad.
Finally, if you’re wanting to add a lot of ragged chiff to the whistle, leave a little of the tape above the end of the tube so it flutters in the breeze inside the whistle body – Oh, wait, if you’d wanted that ragged chiff effect you wouldn’t have tweaked the whistle
I knew with so many plumbers on the board, we’d get some good craic going.
For those advocating grease or wax: Would cork grease do? I think I still have some. Come to think of it, I prolly still have some trombone tuning slide grease floating around somewhere…
I tried stretching the tape but it kept slipping. Perhaps that “moisten slightly” will do the trick.
Geez, I haven’t thought about cork grease in ages, but I remember I used to love the smell of it.
I don’t know how it would work for stopping the air leakage, Bloom… I would tend to think it would make it too slippery without the cork to soak it up, but I could be wrong. It’s been known to happen on occasion.
If you have trouble finding local bees wax try a local orchard. Many orchards place bees among their trees for pollination. They usually sell honey and bees wax as a sideline. By the way a little local honey each day is supposed to help with allergies.
I have to second Ron’s words on local honey for allergies-- wonderful stuff! Be sure to get unpasteurized though… the heating process can really eliminate all the beneficial stuff. It’s also great for anti-bacterial properties too!
Honey is denatured at around 68c so any pasturised and treated honey err isn’t Honey it is just a collection sugars with some nasties produced by the heating.
Can we drop the apiary stuff and return to the plumbing issues at hand, please? Rember this is a P-L-U-M-B-I-N-G forum!?! I know a lot of people who won’t post here because of all the bee & honey posts. Last thing I need is a varola mite in this thread, thank you very much.
if brass instruments are considered plumbing: 30 years ago i was a trumpet player. we used something called tuning slide and cork grease. i recall it was the selmer brand we used, and they still seem to be making it. maybe it would help.
Bloomfield - I’ve had the same problems you have had with plumber’s tape - bunching up and all. I’ve had better luck with it when I tightly wrap one layer and then gently apply cork grease on top of the plumber’s tape.
My most sincere and humble apologies for the temporary appropriation of your thread, dear Bloom. I do hope you accept my plea for forgiveness, and I hereby promise to never bring up bees, honey, allergies, pasteurization, or anti-bacterial properties again. Unless absolutely necessary. To illustrate a point or something.
~A
P.S. And I do believe you meant a varroa mite, did you not?
I don’t think I have to change my mind about it. Love bees wax, and am a big supporter of local bee keepers (we get some very very good stuff here). Let me play around a little bit more my teflon tape (I’d hate to waste the 85 cents I spent on it), but I’ll come back to you if I decide to use bees wax. Thank so much!
