I ordered two of these wooden recorders from Elderly. http://www.elderly.com and intended to plug the holes as necessary and re-drill it into a 6 hole whistle. I wanted to try a wood whistle without dropping a $C note. The hardest part of whistle making is the fipple head. So, I figured if I destroyed the tube, I could at least use the head for another homebrew whistle.
As you can see from the picture, this is not one of those recorders with double low holes. It is a two piece instrument, it’s tunable and appears to be made of ash. The finish looks like Urethane. There is a nice cork seal and it is in the key of C. It comes with a swab, plastic bag and cardboard box. It is manufactured in China.
I had to separate it about 3/16” to get the bell note in tune. I plugged the rear thumbhole and top finger hole with a piece of wood dowel and touched up the finish with a dab of Superglue. It was slightly flat on the F, G and A. Opening up the holes with a drill bit brought it into tune.
So, if you want to experiment with a wooden whistle, and like to work with your hands, here’s a easy little project for ‘ya. The right hand third finger is offset and very comfortable. It has a lovely wooden tone.
Non- commercial statement: I have no affiliation with Elderly, Super Glue or China.
Peace,
Gary
[ This Message was edited by: Gary on 2002-09-20 10:03 ]
Yes it has a tapered bore and the holes are round. I forgot to mention that the fipple blade was unfinished and I sealed it with mineral oil on a cotton swab as well as touching up the redrilled holes.
The human eye can be tricked by the diagonal lines… but not the camera.
Cut a hole in a sheet of paper and hold it to the screen. The recorder holes look squared, including the ones on the box. It might have something to do with software if the image was compressed. Wierd huh ?
Scupley Clay plugs glued into toneholes to seal them up.
After this, you could use the Hoekje spreadsheet to enter the toneholes and estimate the bore diameters of each hole (within reason). Although the spreadsheet is for straight bores, it will get you in the ballpark. Just drill undersized to start with.
There’s also a Schylling Tin Whistle. Metal tube in bright colors: Red, Blue or Yellow. Metal is sturdy as a Generation and the paint looks like it will last, even in my hands. Plastic mouthpiece. Mouthpiece is very slightly more “rubbery” than you get with most whistles, which may mean it will be less prone to cracking. Mouthpiece comes off easily after hot water treatment. Apply some lube when putting it on again, as it’s pretty tight. There’s lots of “play” for wide tuning adjustment.
The whistle has bad tone out of the box, but can be tweaked into a decent instrument. From looking at it and tooting it in the store I could tell it was reasonably in tune. Got it home and it was surprisingly in tune, especially C natural. louder than a Feadog or Generation, after I had tweaked it. Mine can go well into the third octave (ouch!) which allows me to play the reel Johnny’s Wedding (third octave D crops up a few times) without a lot of force or bad tone. I had to tape down the B hole because it was a bit sharp and I drilled out the F# hole a tiny bit because it was flat. I got one at Cracker Barrel for $2.99 or you can order them from Schilling web site for about $3.50. I plan on playing it at church tomorrow, with my wife playing harp.
One tweak i use that helps cheap whistles to sound better is to take a small not-too-sharp blade (keychain penknife) and dig it in about 4 or 5 spots across the blade of the whistle. I use all my strength and it goes in about one or two millimeters. Besides the Schylling, I’ve done this on several Feadog’s and always got better sound. “improvement” may be just imaginary, but it hasn’t hurt any.
Hmmm… might tempt me into experimental whistle tampering. I have a UK source (maybe for a different product?) that lists three sizes: 12, 20, 32 cm. Now isnt that easier than all those silly letters.
Not only simpler - but one for each age group. Instant harmonies. Bliss.
hmmm! not sure I understand the nature of my crime. It’s just as well that not too many people have read my post because I want Feadog and Generation to stay in business.
this thread has been dead fer 7 years 
