I just got my first wooden whistle and am in love with it. My concern is that if I play it every day for years, and swab the moisture out of the bore each day, I’ll eventually wear out the brass fitting where the two parts come together. So my question is, since my cleaning rod with the cotton swab on the end is plenty long enough to reach all the way to the fipple, what am I gaining by pulling the whistle apart? My guess is that I can leave it together and swab it that way each night. Any observations by you all?
No, there’s no need to take it apart to
swab it, if the swab goes all the way.
But generally I take such whistles
apart to store them, anyway. Best
I’ve never owned a wooden whistle, so please take this with a grain of salt, but…
I always take my wooden clarinet apart to swab it out. I tend to get water pooled in the tenon joint that needs to be wiped out. I’ve never noticed that the joint wears out from being swabbed. No more than the inside of the clarinet wears out, anyway. I don’t know how, or if, this applies to whistles…
I recommend you separate the joints to allow the air to get in - you may miss a droplet somewhere anyway. Remember to use almond oil in the bore every so often, every 1-3 months or so, or when needed. A dab of joint grease on the slide once in a blue moon would be good too.
And just exactly what is your new pride and joy?!
It is a very good idea to take 2 part whistles apart for cleaning and storage, especially if they have a metal tuning slide. Moisture can seep into the slide and cause corrosion and possibly freeze up the slide in time. I just did a repair on a whistle ( owner had it in a back pocket and sat down… ) and the tuning slide was quite corroded.. I was able to steel wool it back for the most part, but it was still a bit pitted. Take them apart!
I got one of David Boisvert’s whistles, Nick. You can see what they look like if you follow the link in this thread:
Does this include metal whistles too? I guess I should take the Burke apart once and awhile since it has a rubber ring.
geek, I hope you’re being facetious?! 
I do believe Paul is referring to wooden whistles. 
~Larry
The tuning slides are brass on both types of whistle. So what’s good for one will be good for the other, right?
I suppose you’re right… 
~Larry
No big deal, Larry. I’m just trying to figure all this out.
It’s quite alright…I’ve given up figuring ANY of this out! 
~Larry
I do think that any metal to metal slides oughta be taken apart. The o-ring setup on a Burke might change that though-- ask Mike.
Every day, Paul? Or would once a week be adequate? Eventually over the years those brass parts will lose that close tolerance. Of course they can be repaired, but…
I would definatly take the whistle apart before wiping it out. I don’t see the metal wearing out that much, I would imagine that you would run into problems with the wood wearing or cracking or something before you would ever have a big problem with the metal. I would think corrosion would be more damaging faster than a bit of wear from general use. I also thought I read something once about how it’s good to store wood whistles taken apart, something to do with any possible expanding/contracting of the materials (though perhaps I remember wrong?). Anyhow, I have taken to storing mine as two pieces. I also oil it a lot more than Nick recommends. I oil mine when ever the bore starts to look/feel dry… which for right now is still once or sometimes twice a week. Maybe it’s just that I live in a very dry area, or maybe it’s still into soaking up the oil, maybe it’s the kind of wood, but mine does seem to dry out quickly. Mine is still on the newish side, I imagine eventually it will soak up enough oil that it may not need it as often. I also wipe the metal fittings with a soft cloth to help keep any oil or other stuff from building up on them, and occasionally give the outside a light wiping down with oil as well. I don’t think over-oiling is much of a problem if it looks like it needs it, so long as oil doesn’t get in the wind way and so long as it seems to be soaking up the oil instead of puddling it all. After a few months, you’ll get more comfortable with what your paticular whistle needs as far as oiling, etc. (Course, you only asked about swabing it out taken apart or not… but then Nick mentioned oil and…) Anyhow enough rambling… 
So you say you are loving your new whistle? Wonderful! Any chance of some sort of review down the road?
Sara
I use flute goop on all my metal slides and renew it every few weeks so I get a good look at the metal as far as looking for damage. It takes almost no time at all and I never have to wounder if something is going on in the dark places.
But please take your wooden whistle apart every time you are done playing. Every time I take apart my 3 piece wooden Dixon flute there is moister in the joints. Everytime. It is a hassel but the darn thing is beautiful and it sounds so incredable on those few occations my lips work right and I couldn`t bare the thought of damage occuring that I could have prevented. Wood is never to be trusted once its been manipulated or removed from its natural habitat. Wooden boats taught me that.
And by the way which one did you get? Is it one of the ones in the picture. I want the white on
Tom
That brings up another thing that confuses me, Sara. OK, we all agree that they shouldn’t be allowed to dry out…so why do we dry them out after playing??? And then apply oil so they don’t stay dry?? 
Mine definitely seems wet enough not to need me to apply any more moisture! I’m so confused!!
As to the coming review, I’m going to allow Tony Higgins to play it next time I go up for a lesson. He’s far more qualified than I to review any whistle.
Too much wetness & the wood expands & cracks, if it’s too dry the wood will also crack. Oil keeps the wood from absorbing too much mystery moisture, it also keeps it from drying out at the same time. I use almond oil on my flute, it absorbs quickly & I need to oil it about every two weeks with about an hour of play a day. I don’t know about how often wood whistles need to be oiled but I’d imagine it’d be around the same amount.
Excellent idea. I should really check this whistle out for everyone’s benefit.
I would add that, on Chris Abell’s advice (and my laziness) I used to just shake out, rather violently, the blackwood d. The metal joint was always extremely tight. I got into the habit of taking it apart because my swab doesn’t reach all the way and I got into the habit of swabbing after use. (I have very damp breath. You wouldn’t want me standing close behind you.) Anyway, what was I talking about? Right. The joint has become sort of loose lately on the Abell. It looks okay. I was wondering if the warm weather effected the wood and changed the joint, but I doubt that’s the case.
Tony
I’ve thought about not taking apart my wood Sweet whistle every time I played it. I thought I would wear out the red felt joint. I ended up with a worst problem . . . the felt became saturated with moisture. The whistle looks and sounds fine, but the joint seems to absorb too much moisture. Now, it’s always “wet” when I pull it apart to clean it.
It’s not a big deal for me, as I don’t play it that much. But I don’t like the amount of moisture on the felt.
Anyway . . . when I play it, I now pull it apart and let it dry thoroughly before putting it back together. And if I oil it, I make sure that it’s completly dry, so as not to seal any moisture in.
[quote="blackhawk"That brings up another thing that confuses me, Sara. OK, we all agree that they shouldn’t be allowed to dry out…so why do we dry them out after playing??? And then apply oil so they don’t stay dry?? Mine definitely seems wet enough not to need me to apply any more moisture! I’m so confused!![/quote]
I’m sure someone on the board to answer this better than me . . . but the oil helps to retard the moisture(ie our breath), which would otherwise cause the wood to crack. Wood shouldn’t dry out, but it also shouldn’t be subjected to large changes in humidity.