Mike R. mentioned varnish removal as a method of improving the sound on my Walton whistle.
Anyone (Mike) care to elaborate on how this works?
Any imput on this interesting subject will be greatly appreciated.
Tim.
I’ve been told by a whistler and a chemical consultant to NOT ever take the varnish off a copper whistle fipple. So be wary, copper salts are actually very poisonous, and can accummulate in the body. They can even
be absorbed directly through unbroken skin.
Tim,
If you have a regular brass Walton with the shellac type varnish, this can easily be removed by scrubbing lightly with one of those 3M green dish/pot scrubbing pads and warm soapy water. This gives an attractive, satin-like finish to the brass.
As far as I know, Waltons make brass and nickel-plated only. I don’t own any copper whistles and I don’t know if they are varnished, but I’m sure somebody out there can advise on that.
I use Never-Dull Magic Wadding Polish. It’s a little less abrasive.
anna–I had a necklace I made out of copper wire that I stripped the insulation off of that I wore for YEARS and it never made me sick. I think you’d have to absorb QUITE A BIT before it had any effect, so I wouldn’t worry too much.
On 2001-10-15 20:25, Anna Martinez wrote:
I’ve been told by a whistler and a chemical consultant to NOT ever take the varnish off a copper whistle fipple. So be wary, copper salts are actually very poisonous, and can accummulate in the body. They can even
be absorbed directly through unbroken skin.
Here is a quotation from the Merck Index regarding copper metal: “Toxicity: Copper itself probably has little or no toxicity, although there are conflicting reports in the literature. Soluble salts, notably copper sulfate, are strong irritants to skin, mucous membranes. Copper oxide fumes can cause metal fume fever. A relationship between copper and hemochromatosis has been reported. See E. Browning, Toxicity of Industrial Metals ( Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York, 2nd ed., 1969 ) pp 145-152.”
Hydrated copper carbonate, a common form of the metal, is not indicated as having any toxicity. CuSO4 is indicated as a strong irritant, as above, but I think it’s unlikely to form on a whistle mouthpiece. Cu(OH)2 is not indicated as having any toxicity. CuCl2 is indicated as irritating to skin and mucous membranes, but I also think it unlikely to form on a whistle mouthpiece.
I note also that brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, and many of us play uncoated brass whistles ( e.g. Copelands ) without injury. Further, copper water pipe has been in use literally for hundreds of years, and I know of no injury that has resulted from its use.
There may be something here that I have missed. Can you ask your consulting chemist friend to be more specific, and to cite some references? In particular, I find no hint that copper or copper salts are cumulative toxins.
Hi, Neil! I forwarded this post to Ron Clarke on OZ, he e-mailed me back, asked for your e-mail addy, so I’m like to send to him with your permission. He’s got the stuff on copper for ya! He’s also got some other stuff he wants to talk to you about! Small world, eh?
Anyhow, this is what I got from him…
"I will put together the scientific data and ZIP it up for you. There
will probably be a set of .HTML files of the raw data, and a few .TXT
files from my chemical data package - with a small .EXE file reader that
will run under W98. You will need the reader - my chemical .TXT files
are not plain text, but include colour marking characters for emphasis.
Copper is accummulated by persons with Wilson’s disease, who
excessively absorb, store and retain copper. It is a genetic condition, not
something you can catch."
I’m now bowing out, since this is WAY over my head! 
[ This Message was edited by: Anna Martinez on 2001-10-18 19:09 ]