I am having trouble getting the head off of my D Killarney. I have tried all the usual methods, hot water, soap and brute force, I even put it in a vice but to no avail. It is a really nice whistle and I don’t want to damage it by using too much force. There also doesn’t seem to be any contact details on their website. Any suggestions would be gratefully received or even contact details for the maker if anyone has them.
Cheers,
Dave.
Have you tried sending them a message through their Facebook page?
https://www.facebook.com/KillarneyWhistle
Oh, and have you searched this forum for other solutions - combo hot/cold, twisting, etc.?
Just a thought if you don’t hear anything else back, but with that style of whistle what may work would be to slide another tube over the body that extends past the end and sits against the bottom of the head piece and then hammer that extended outer tube (downside is you need something that will fit it, which or may or may not be easily attainable). Alternatively using a dowel inside the bore and holding the body tube while hammering the dowel may provide enough force to loosen the head piece (although would worry about displacing the fipple plug depending on how it’s held in place).
Rather than hammering you probably get a good result if you ‘throw’ the whistle with some force into the wider tube.
Right, the “Madden Smackdown Method”. This thread might explain how it works. https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/generation-head-removal/73571/6
You don’t have to use an expensive whistle as the slide hammer. Any soft metal tube with sufficient mass will do the job.
You might also use the deep freeze method. If the two metals are just different enough then the inner one may shrink enough to ease the bond. This is the opposite of the hot water method which expands the metals. Use rubber gloves or another tacky material to get a good grip when you pull the pieces apart.
Also, things like wd-40 might help since it is a metal on metal joint. Be patient.
Feadoggie
Throwing method, Smackdown method, “How could that work?” then I tried it. Whoopee!! it popped right off. Thanks for all the suggestions.
I promptly took my dremel sanding head to the inside of the Killarney headjoint, now it fits perfectly. But for the occasionally sticky head, it’s a great whistle.