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March 7, 2010
Cleaning Your Wicked Good Whistle • Three Different Ways
This is a simple way to make an excellent cleaning tool for all size whistles. The materials are a 3/16" wooden dowel and a long strip of cotton cloth.
The 3/16" wooden dowel costs $.78 cents at our local Lowes and is 48" long. You will have plenty of material to make two extra long cleaning rods that will fit up to a Low D whistle.
I use a white 100% cotton cleaning towel and tear it into 2" strips the long length of the towel.
One towel is enough to last a long time, so you can be neighborly and share with a friend if you like. If you have an old pillow case, that will work well and it can be any color you have on hand.
I recommend 100% cotton because you will not get lint when you buff the bore of the whistle coming off and getting into the fingerholes and tuning joint.
You will need to cut the slot in the end of the dowel with a sharp, fine tooth saw. I use the bandsaw to do the slot, but you can use a craft saw, coping saw, scroll saw or perhaps a neighbor might cut the slot for you. If you do not wish to cut a slot (I like the slot so I can change the cloth often), you can use a dab of Elmer's Glue and wrap your cloth around the dowel and glue it on.
Wrap the cloth smoothly down the dowel by turning to the right with the dowel and feeding the cloth flat and pulling to the bottom of the dowel. Wrap enough cloth around the dowel so that it fits nicely into the bore of your whistle and let the tail end of the cloth pull down to the end of the dowel. Do not make the cloth fit too tightly or it can make a plug of cloth and be hard to remove.
The tail end of the cloth should be left loose and hang outside the whistle so you can pull the cloth out of the whistle if it should come unattached from the cleaning end of the dowel.
When cleaning and drying your whistle, you can push and pull the rod back and forth or using both hands, spin it in the whistle bore.
If you want to use your electric drill, put the drill in forward mode (the same direction you would use to drill a hole with a drill bit) and push and pull back and forth to buff the whistle bore.
If you forget and buff with the drill in reverse, the cloth will unwind and probably come off the dowel. This means you will have to pull on the tail end of the cloth and retrieve your buffing cloth out of the whistle bore. Rewind your dowel and you will be back in business.
You cannot hurt your whistle by buffing the whistle bore. The more times you buff, the smoother the bore will become and the better it will play.
Using a shot gun buff and electric drill to clean your whistle
So many e-mailers wanted a picture of the cleaning setup I had mentioned this spring that I decided to post a picture of my top secret whistle cleaning apparatus. The woolen buff is for a 12 gauge shotgun(fits low whistles with a big bore) and will last a long time. A 410 size buff fits small diameter bore whistles.
You can use any type of drill, but cordless is great if you already own one. Be sure the drill is in tighten mode when you clean with it or the buff will unscrew and be left in the whistle. Several buffing sessions will improve the sound of any kind of whistle because the buffing head smooths the instrument inside and dries up the water.
Doing this type of buffing is not the same as using a clarinet style bore wiper, because the buff generates heat while it is turning and the heat and rotation takes out residue and polishes the inside of the instrument. If you find that your instrument wets up easily in high humidity conditions, dry silicon spray available in hardware and automotive stores can be wiped into the bore after it has been cleaned and then buffed again to produce a finish that will absolutely shed water.
Moisture in the bore will deaden sound quickly if conditions are humid because saliva is not plain water and the surface tension inside the bore makes it collect as a coating on the walls of the instrument. Silicon when buffed onto the surface makes surface tension minimal and improves the instruments internal vibration so you get more volume without having to increase the air flow.
Read More in: The WhistleSmith News
| Wicked Good Gadgets
January 17, 2010
Everything is not Barter... Some things are "Being Neighborly"
Being Neighborly with a tune at the Scarecrow Festival at Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. Just as this photo was being taken, a tour bus pulled up and I played some tunes to the passengers who thought I was part of the festival welcoming committee.
Barter is doing business without using man made money. Folks display their goods and you display what you will give them in return for those goods. This is the oldest kind of trade, swap or doing business that exists and a common method of exchange between neighbors and friends in rural Maine.
Continue reading "Everything is not Barter... Some things are "Being Neighborly""
January 7, 2010
Good & Plenty C Whistle
The Good and Plenty C whistle is the result of receiving so many requests for a back to basics whistle. Many folks asked for an easy to clean whistle with accurate tuning, no tuning slide, and an extra smooth bore for the best sound possible.
I received this email from a whistler in Pennsylvania who lives near Lancaster in the midst of Amish country. Here is an excerpt of his letter.
Continue reading "Good & Plenty C Whistle"
April 1, 2009
WhistleSmith Good and Plenty Bb Whistle
Many folks asked for an easy to clean whistle with accurate tuning, no tuning slide, and an extra smooth bore for the best sound possible. The Good and Plenty whistle is the result of receiving so many requests for a back to basics whistle.
I received this email from a whistler in Pennsylvania who lives near Lancaster in the midst of Amish country. Here is an excerpt of his letter.
Continue reading "WhistleSmith Good and Plenty Bb Whistle"
March 21, 2009
What People Say for Spring and Summer '09
This section of What People Say! will be available for additions. If you have non commercial information you would like to share with other whistlers just send me an email.
Continue reading "What People Say for Spring and Summer '09"
March 8, 2009
Slide Flute finds New Friends and Places to Play!
I have been busy making inventory this winter and one instrument that has been consistently in demand is the slide flute. The Pennywhistle and Symphony Slide Flutes have both been found to be very satisfactory instruments for children and adults with Down Syndrome.
These folks love music and the interaction that it gives them with others. Playing the slide flute is a good therapy for improved breathing and an inexpensive way to provide an instrument that is easy to play and fits into family activities.
Continue reading "Slide Flute finds New Friends and Places to Play!"
Tips about Antique Reviews•Second Hand Instruments •Chat•RIP Archives
I get a lot of calls and emails from folks inquiring about other whistle makers and instruments that they may have acquired second hand. Here is what I say.
Continue reading "Tips about Antique Reviews•Second Hand Instruments •Chat•RIP Archives"
Blog Cleanup and Archived Files
If you have been searching the Internet for information, you have probably run into hundreds of dead ends on your search. After finding a web site with information on the item you are looking for, you find the information to be old, out of date and many times out of business.
I have been archiving many entries that no longer are valid into The Old Whistle Stuff Archive of this blog. Most entries have been edited out, but give you a redirect to the current instrument and how it is made. In this manner, you find only the new information and the updated features on that particular whistle, flute or fife.
This blog always opens on the "Main Page" which contains the most current entries made on the web site. Please use the directory to go to information that you are interested in.
I invite anyone to be an editor if you find a mistake or information that is out of date on the web site. I use all means possible to keep everything spelled and in proper context, but posting errors are often a problem when blogging. I appreciate your help on keeping things current.
Read More in: The WhistleSmith NewsDecember 16, 2008
What is the difference between a Thumb Post and a Thumb Ring?
This is The WhistleSmith Thumb ring that snaps to the barrel of the whistle and rotates for most comfortable playing position. Some
folks would like a Thumb ring for both hands so I am listing them as an individual item. Low whistles and flutes take a large ring and Hi whistles and flutes use a small ring. WhistleSmith Thumb rings are made to fit Whistlesmith whistles and flutes. Pick Thumb ring size to fit your whistle and Add it to Your Cart. We will ship your Thumb ring with your whistle order
This is The WhistleSmith Thumb ring that snaps to the barrel of the whistle and rotates for most comfortable playing position. Some folks would like a Thumb ring for both hands so I am listing them as an individual item. Low whistles and flutes take a large ring and Hi whistles and flutes use a small ring. WhistleSmith Thumb rings are made to fit Whistlesmith whistles and flutes. Pick Thumb ring size to fit your whistle and Add it to Your Cart. We will ship your Thumb ring with your whistle order
Continue reading "What is the difference between a Thumb Post and a Thumb Ring?"
November 18, 2008
The Whistler of Blackstone Bluff
Last ride of the season on November the sixth. Temperature was 55 degrees in the afternoon for about two hours and I had to dress warm to be comfortable. By evening, we had snow on the ground again.
Continue reading "The Whistler of Blackstone Bluff"
Update on the Proto 3 slide flute
We have had a lot of response from the article on the new Prototype 1 whistle for physically challenged people.
I took the information from the Proto1 instrument and built a second instrument and called it Proto 2. There were some technically nice things about Proto 2 which was the next step toward a production whistle. After working with Proto 2 for several week I decided the breath tube was collecting too much moisture and would always be a problem. I archived the design information and have moved on to Proto 3.
Continue reading "Update on the Proto 3 slide flute"
What People said November of '08
I received this note from Mark Hanson and thought you might like to hear about the work he is doing with his Low D whistle.
Hi thought you might want to hear your whistles in action . My album named The Lonely Traveler on I-tunes is live and features use of your low d whistle through out the album. Hope you like it. Mark Hanson [ aka Mark Perry ] God Bless
Continue reading "What People said November of '08"
September 16, 2008
What Folks are Saying in September '08
I have quite a few questions and some comments and feedback for the past couple of months that I find very interesting. First off is a very nice note from a gentleman that liked his new Low F whistle. This is the response every WhistleSmith likes to receive.
Continue reading "What Folks are Saying in September '08"
Proto 1 Auto Slide Flute Due for Production
Here I am holding the original Proto 1 auto slide flute. The long tube is the air tube into which you blow to play the flute. The air tube is held in a ring of the wire that goes to the slide rod in the flute. The slide moves back and forth with your head movement to change the pitch and determine the note you are playing.
My Top Secret, keep the lights burning project for the summer has been a whistle project with David Whalen from Scotia, New York. David approached me on the phone with the idea of making a slide whistle that he could play by moving the slide with just the movement of his head. The whistle would also have to be easy to blow, have a nice deep sound, and be easily cleaned and maintained. In addition to that, the cost should be as low as possible so a lot of folks could afford it in all kinds of countries and economic situations.
WOW! You have to love a project and challenge like this!
Continue reading "Proto 1 Auto Slide Flute Due for Production"
Building completed at the WhistleSmith
Here is the way it looks on the mountain when everything has been put back together again. Mike Michaud is shown putting the last piece on the new building. Jerry and Mike set a new Olympic record in completing the job and it is greatly appreciated.
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