Hello all,
Does the tuning slide on an overton whistle ever need some sort of lubrication on it, or is it just matter of putting on new plumbing tape when it needs it? I recently got a tunable low D and that is the first whistle I’ve owned with that style of tuning slide. I couldn’t seem to find any info about it on the overton webpage. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bill
No, don’t use any lubrication such as cork grease. The slide is designed to work properly with several wrappings of Teflon/PTFE tape, which serves as both seal and lubricant, and which is easily replaced when necessary.
Thanks, that’s what I was hoping to find out. I’m not having any problems with it right now, I was just wondering about it in case it needs it in the future.
As I understand it, it is best if you don’t disassemble the whistle. Just tune it as needed. The seal/tape should last nearly forever.
Not if you screw around with it like me. Then you may experience sudden, catastrophic floppy slide syndrome. Don’t ask me how I know. 
Seriously, the tape may compress a bit over time. But replacement is a 2 minute job. Just make sure the slide tenon is perfectly dry before wrapping. Don’t ask me how I know. 
How do you know, MT? Oh… sorry.. I wasn’t supposed to ask. 
Ya I haven’t taken it apart at all yet, it works well right now. I’m suprised at how thin the tube is at the joint, It’s some pretty nice looking machining… Thanks for the replies.
I’ve just recently re-taped mine…Too much screwing around with it too I suppose. I did add a little vasoline to it though as an after-thought. I wasn’t sure if it would need it or not and knew no better at the time either.
Mick
After having a pair of walking poles completely seize up because I applied vaseline (aka the devils own glue) to them I have since only applied it to sensitive areas of my anatomy. A wee tube of silicon grease is a handy thing for ‘o ring’ applications and such like. Not suggesting that it would have been right in this case either of course - sounds like the tape alone does the job. However, maybe vaseline works better ‘down under’ - er, I mean in the heat of Australia it maybe stays more fluid?!
I am not sure if additional vaseline or fat is alright to put on teflon tape, some synthetic materials do not like fats or oils added then they start sticking. I tried to find information about this online. Usually Colin does not need any fat or such for his tunables, teflon tape normally should not stick and just the right amount of layers (which may take a couple of takes to try to apply when first done) does the sealing job nicely… even I managed to do it with the second go and if I can I am sure everyone can 
Brigitte
Well lets hope that those “…sensitive parts of your anatomy” don’t seize up too, unless of course it works out to be cheaper than viagra 
. In all seriousness though, I didn’t think it would be necessary, and since I went out an bought a couple of rolls of the plumbers tape (just in case), I may as well re-do the job. I now know that 2 layers would probably be better than the 3 that I put around the slide. I also know that removing the tape is a right royal pain if you can’t find an end to work with.
Well, I’m off to do the job properly. Don’t won’t my pole to seize up at an inappropriate time 
.