Just received the Abell Whistle - African Blackwood with sterling silver Standard (Key of D) today. It is truly an outstanding whistle… The very best out there in whistle land. A new standard for excellence. Something to work towards in my flute making venture. Excellent craftsmanship and sweet sound… Thanks, Chris.
No doubt, the Able low D whistle is a fine whistle. That it is the very best that you can buy anywhere seems to me to be a matter of personal opinion.
Sp???
How bizarre, to start a thread singing the praises of a new acquisition and to mis-spell it (despite posting a link with it spelled correctly)!
Right! Could that be why there is “A bell” engraved on the instrument as the makers mark?
I think you might have meant high D, Doug.
I would agree with that statement whole heartedly. The Abell is certainly a good whistle and well made. It’s not among my favorites though. If we didn’t have different tastes and preferences there wouldn’t be as many whistle makers in business I fear.
Feadoggie
It is the best whistle out there.
It IS!
It IS!
Sp correction noted 
Abells are fantastic, but I agree that it is subjective opinion whether they are “THE best” - I’d at least rate Rose, Swayne and Simmons (never met a Schultz) as equally good and the differences between them would make for personal preferences.
I hope that saying Abell Whistles are “The very best out there in whistle land.” did not offend any flute makers out there.
Some flute makers may look at the word “Best” as… why should I even try because the best is already been done.
Best is always debatable and is always changing from our different perspectives. I only use best as seeing how it could improve on what I am doing… as an aid to growth. Striving for the “Best” is a motivational factor to growing and improving . Always willing to learn and improve.
I just felt that craftsmanship and the quality of an Abell Whistle should be recognized and as a flute maker we should all be exploring ways to improve what we are making… but staying true to our creation.
There are many great whistles in whistle land. I am particularly drawn to the outstanding whistle that were made by Glen Schultz, Sr., Pall Busman, Terry McGee, Oz, etc… and I am sure you could name many other grate whistle makers.
I would love to be second best… in the the quality of an Abell Whistle… and I can imagine that Chris Abell is always looking for the best in whistle making.
-Ty
I agree! I got my Abell almost the same time as you. Mine is #1679. I sent him a nice piece of cocuswood, and he made a beautiful D whistle for me, it is the best! 
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I like my Reyburn better, and a friend does too 
That’s really gorgeous, Jon - any chance of hearing it?
Hi Jon,
As I said… A work or art… what a beautiful whistle… Cocuswood was a nice choice of wood… it’s warm and really come to life with the silver… I can feel your excitement.
The craftsmanship is superb and the attention to detail is excellent. I noticed that the “Ramp, Blade or Labium lip” is cut exactly like my cocobolo wood whistle made by the late Glen Schultz, Sr. . Do you think that it was cut with a CNC machine?
-Ty
Yes, I think cocuswood is the best tone wood, too bad it was farmed out in the 19th century.
That’s how I would do it, once you have the design then you can replicate it for ever more… The blade face is curved so it would have to be cut on a rotary table set at 90 deg. It could also be hand milled with a rotary table, but if you are making a bunch of them, CNC is the way to go.
Hi jon,
Love your new Abell Whistle…
I am always looking for a better way of doing thing. Yes… the “blade face” is curved… Not sure how the rotary table works. I will have to look into the rotary table and see it it will work with my milling machine.
At this time I cut the blade face by hand and it is curved… It appears that Paul Busman cuts the blade by hand and does and excellent job. I make allot of whistles and would like to minimize the hand work. Thanks for you help.
-Ty
Very nice looking whistle, Jon. Yes the blade can be cut as you described on a milling machine either by hand control or CNC. It’s a good way to get a consistent radius on the upper side of a curved blade. I suspect Chris Abell is doing things by hand although I do not know for sure. If you look closely at the blade of one of John Sindt’s whistles you get an idea of how he must be doing things. There are usually telltale lines left by each pass of the cutter on the top surface of the ramp. Those could easily be smoothed out after the milling operation. There are many ways to skin the proverbial cat!
Jon, would you thinking about making a few whistles?
Feadoggie
Might be fun, I have a lot of Cocuswood…
That’s a rough situation, Jon! 
Gotta use it up, right?
Feadoggie
Yep, lots of thin pieces that would work nicely…
Well, if you’ll do one with a conoid body (like a Jon Swayne), put my name down… 
Tell me more about these whistles? Is it a conical bore? I want one too!
Well, I’ve rabbited on about them (Swayne’s whistles) on-and-off for long enough! There’s at least one clip on my YT channel using mine. Carlos Nunez uses them - here’s a YT clip with him playing one in F. There are plenty of other clips of him playing different pitched ones. Tony Hinnigan did one of his Low Whistle comparison clips about Swayne low Ds too - on the Kerry Whistles website, I think.
They’re not too difficult to get hold of currently, by all accounts, though there have been times when that wasn’t true, and Jon Swayne’s prices are actually ridiculously reasonable. I’m sure it’d be worth asking if he’d make you one if you sent him a billet of cocus!
Yes, the body is mildly conoid - my high D has a head diameter (or at least, the tuning slide, which appears to be the same as the wooden part of the head bore) of 12.52mm. At the very edge of the lower end the diameter is 11mm exactly, but there appears to be a slight end-flare as I get 10.33mm with the caliper ID blades inserted as far up-tube as they reach - dunno that that is the narrowest point, though. Visually at least, the taper appears even apart from the end-flare - no sign of any chambering or obvious gradient changes.