I have several whistles with tuning slides that basically consist of a brass tube embedded in the upper segment, over which the lower segment slides.
All of them rock a bit. I don’t think it affects their playability, but it can sometimes be a little distracting. In one case, it only happens when the slide is pushed almost all the way in.
I really don’t want to send them back to the makers for something like this, but I’d like to get some suggestions about how to firm up the slides. I’m hesitant to try anything like trying to get the slides to bulge in the right places–even if I could figure out where that might be.
The slides aren’t really loose enough for anything like teflon tape, so I’m thinking of either something like beeswax or a thin coating of something like clear fingernail polish.
I’d appreciate any insights about how to deal with this–especially any real-life stories of success in this area.
Don’t know about other makers, but Bill Whedon of Serpent Music not only recommends beeswax, but includes some beeswax with every whistle (or at least, each of the 5 whistles I’ve got from him )
What works best for me seems to be to have the whistle warmed up, apply it, and work the slide a few times to distribute the wax evenly (an electric hair dryer works fine for this). Then adjust the tuning and let the whistle cool down.
My Dixon tunables are tight enough that I prefer Susato joint grease (as near as I can tell, it’s nearly identical to chapstick). The Susato joint grease works fine for the heads on my tweaked cheap whistles, too.
So -
very tight fit: chapstick/Sjg
Looser fit: beeswax
I had a similar issue with my bird’s-eye maple Busman. Paul recommended trying beeswax first. Other options: send it back to him for a slight tube tweak (or try it myself), or apply a tiny bit of plumber’s tape. I tried the beeswax last night, and it seems to be working quite well.
Thanks, guys. The next question seems to be where to find beeswax. You used to be able to just buy a jar of honey with part of the comb in it, but I don’t seem to see those in the stores anymore.
Teflon tape (also called Plumber’s tape, which has been mentioned before) is supposed to
be really good for this sort of thing. It can be found in hardware stores, and is very thin.
It’ll seal leakage, too, if you have that problem.
[quote=“Darwin”]Thanks, guys. The next question seems to be where to find beeswax. quote]
YOu can get it at sewing supply stores too. Seamstresses sometimes use it to coat thread.
You might be talking about the whistle I sent you recently. Once in a while this happens,and I’m not really sure why. If the loose part of a slide is at the end of the male half, it’s a simple matter to flare the end a TINY bit. If the loose part is in the middle, I put a 1/2" steel rod into the slide and tap it a bit with a small hammer. This flattens a small amount of the slide and effectively expands the tubing. When the loose part is right up against the metal ring, it’s tough to tap it safely with a hammer. Sometimes I use a flat pin punch to do it, but it doesn’t always work perfectly.
Note that my whistles are tuned intentionally a bit sharp, so if you want to play along with others, you’ll need to pull it out a tad anyway.
If this is really a problem for you, I can remove the old part of the slide and try another piece.
You can get it from Tandy Leather, too. Any leather supply place should carry it. It’s used to coat thread for any saddle-type leather sewing, as well as a variety of leather-working tasks.
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That took a second to register.