After months of playing, my favorite whistles have developed finger marks- unshiny areas around the holes. The worst marks are on my nickel and aluminum whistles, probably because I play them a lot more than my brass ones. What’s a good, safe way to remove these marks? The guy at the hardware store suggested Brasso, but for aluminum?!?
The literature I got with my Copeland recommends against Brasso, though I don’t remember the reason given. I would shy away from it because it has ammonia in it, which can eventually attack brass along crystal boundaries and weaken it. The same source recommends “Flitz”, which is a universal metal polish. “Semichrome Polish” is something I used to use on aluminum, as in motorcycle gearbox and crankcase covers, but I don’t know if I’d want to use it on my whistles.
If you do decide to polish your instruments, be sure to keep the compound you use out of your windway and away from any tuning slides, otherwise you may have problems with clogging and the slide may bind.
The Copeland literature also recommends (a) using a Jeweller’s cloth (a polishing cloth with Jeweller’s rouge impregnating the cloth), or (b) fine steel wool (000).
Thanks! I’ll try Flitz, if I can find it. I’ll look for a jeweler’s cloth too.
Edit: duh. http://www.flitz.com
[ This Message was edited by: LittleMy on 2001-09-03 21:40 ]
This may sound odd.. But my theory in regards to my brass whistle (which was recently stolen)…
I kept it immaculate on the inside, however I never polished the outside. Much like cymbals, metal gets a darker tone the more it oxidizes. I know drum set players who burry their cymbals for 3 months before playing them, which I debated… I wanted the dark sounding whistle, though. ;p
In anycase, BRASSO works well or, if you don’t want to mess with the messy stuff, check out NEVR-DULL.. Both work well.
Flitz works well, but Mack Hoover recommended a product to me called NEVR-DULL. I’ve been using it ever since. It’s at all hardware stores, works on all metals and is easy to use. I don’t have any tarnished whistles anymore.
I highly recommend the Cape Cod metal polish cloths sold at Restoration Hardware. They works fantastically on both brass and nickel, and don’t have the petroleum smell or abrasive of the Never Dull product. I use them to keep my Copeland whistles polished to a mirror shine as well as shine the brass on my set of pipes.
I have been using Pro Mark cymbal polish on my Copelands, O’Riordans, Burkes, etc. for 12 years now. It works equally well on brass, aluminum, nickel, and even on my Sterling Copeland high D. In my opinion, it is the best, which is why I buy the stuff in half-dozen lots. Oh, it also lasts a very long time. You can get it at any music store that sells drums. Or you can order it from the factory.
Good luck,
Bob Pegritz
On 2001-09-05 08:31, Whistleworks wrote:
I have been using Pro Mark cymbal polish on my Copelands, O’Riordans, Burkes, etc. for 12 years now. It works equally well on brass, aluminum, nickel, and even on my Sterling Copeland high D. In my opinion, it is the best, which is why I buy the stuff in half-dozen lots. Oh, it also lasts a very long time. You can get it at any music store that sells drums. Or you can order it from the factory.Good luck,
Bob Pegritz
I have a rouge impregnated jewelers cloth that works just fine! Got it at a jewelry supply house. I rather like the battle scars on my old Generation D, the dings, the dents and the worn off brass plating around the holes and where I put my thumbs. I would rather rip off a fipple and replace it than to have a whole new whistle. I also yank of the fipple and wash it out with a little dish detergent almost every day, then get in the tube with a Chinese chopstick and a slim strip of soft cloth and dry it out.
Chinese chop sticks are the perfect size for a D tube without a fipple! I’m not going to worry about a little dullness on teh outside of the tube, and this may be my imagination, but I think a duller finish makes the whistle a little more forgiving. When my Tully arrives, I think the anti-tarnish strip should do the job!
[ This Message was edited by: Anna Martinez on 2001-09-05 13:50 ]