Bare aluminum MK Pro

[D Mc]

Thank you, Ocarolan. I took the anodized finish off with sandpaper. It is a hard finish and did not want to come off, it took a long time. Great care needs to be taken around the holes and head opening so as not to alter them. To accomplish this I made a concave sanding block out of an 8" long piece of pvc pipe cut in half length wise. Started with 220grit and ended with 1000grit. You need to use lots of water because both the anodizing and the aluminum clog the sandpaper quickly.
The final finish was accomplished with a 12" soft cotton buffing wheel mounted on my drill press and small amounts of aluminum buffing compound. Again, great care needs to be used not to let the compound erode the edges of the openings.
It would be so nice if Misha would just offer this as an option. It is worth it.

[Steve Bliven]

It would be so nice if Misha would just offer this as an option. It is worth it.

It might be good to check directly with Misha about the possibility. An acquaintance of mine had discussed the topic with him some months back and came away with the impression that he was considering making some in "bare aluminum". Mind you, this is third hand rumor validity but, still, it might warrant getting word from the maker himself.

Best wishes.

Steve

[Ocarolan]

It would be good

[greenspiderweb]

Yes, nice job on that polishing and re-contouring, it looks great. I would think it might be still a little slippery though, with that high a polish on it. It probably is near what it was like before it was anodized.

The most practical (and handsome too) finish I've seen on a low whistle, was from Maurice Reviol. It was sandblasted, and then anodized, in the natural silver-white
color and matte finish. It felt secure always, and even less slippery than the black version that had the same process. It had a wonderful tone too, and wish I still had it, but in lean times, I had to sell it, unfortunately.

Some other anodized whistles I've handled from Colin Goldie and Phil Hardy were not very slippery either. Maybe they didn't polish them as highly before anodizing? But on Phil's old Kerry Pro it has a silver-white frosted look, like Maurice's, and some of the later Cillian O'Briain's (which Maurice probably made while working for him).

Also, it probably comes down to how dry or oily or damp our individual hands are, and how that affects our grip, as to how we perceive this.

[D Mc]

Yes, nice job on that polishing and re-contouring, it looks great. I would think it might be still a little slippery though, with that high a polish on it. It probably is near what it was like before it was anodized....

Thanks for the compliment, Barry. But in regards to it being slippery now because of the high shine, it most certainly is not. I know it seems to defy logic but that shiny bare aluminum sticks in just the right way. It is much easier for me to play now. I do have to keep it clean and oil free but that is easily done by wiping it down with a soft cotton cloth after each playing session.


David

[greenspiderweb]

Very interesting, David! Yes, it does defy logic, but I'm glad it works otherwise for you. I also wipe my whistles down after playing too, so I imagine that does help, along with washing my hands often so no oil builds up.

Though thinking back, even with my high polished brass Low D whistles I've had (Chieftain Gold, Copeland), when they were first polished, they weren't a problem for me either. In fact I liked the high polish feel, come to think of it-very smooth and sensual touch to them. I imagine the high polished aluminum to be as pleasant a tactile experience, though different because it's a lot lighter!

Maybe session and band or pro players have a different need for when things are hot and fast and when the whistles may get slippery, but in my cool a/c I usually don't have a care about slippage. Lucky me!

[luukzs]

Hi David,

I saw your post and I love my MK, but are very Meh about how it looks. I want to try stripping it myself, but I read this on the Mk site:

"Why are MK whistles Anodized?
Anodising toughens the surface of aluminium. It basically means your instrument is going to last much longer. Aluminium which has not been anodised will oxidise (particularly if it is going from wet to dry as with the inside bore of a whistle) and corrode away until eventually there's none of it left (a bit like a vampire that gets exposed to sunlight)."

My questions are the following: did you anodize it after stripping it? Because of the warning I'm a bit skeptical about keeping it bare aluminium. And if you did, how did you do it? If you did not, how is the whistle keeping up? I imagine the fipple would oxidize quite fast.

On stripping, I read how you sanded it etc. but there are also chemical paint strippers that are specially made for aluminium, any specific reason you did not use those? =)

Thank you for your time!!
Lucas

[D Mc]

Hi Lucas.

Haha, I think that Misha might have exaggerated just a bit as there are a lot of non anodized aluminum whistles people have been playing for years that have not dissolved " like a vampire in the sunlight ". I have a non anodized and polished Goldie that still looks like new after years of playing.

However, there is no doubt that anodizing gives good protection against corrosion. I do regularly polish mine with a soft cotton cloth and a dab of aluminum polish. The finished results are worth the effort. But it is also why I chose to strip the MK with sandpaper and not chemicals. The MK is anodized, inside and out, so I wanted to not disturb the inside coating.

I am very glad I did this as it is just a joy for me to play now and I love the way it looks, but be forewarned, doing this is a lot of work, and nerve-wracking until the last scratch is buffed out.

David

[Feadoggie]

Too funny!

Yes, bare aluminum will oxidize but perhaps not uniformly.

Isn't anodizing basically the process of creating a thicker and more uniform layer of oxidization with the help of electricity, color optional.

Vampires? Must be the season.

Feadoggie

[luukzs]

Hi David and Feadoggie,

Thank you so much for the information!

my next question would indeed have been if you sandpapered the whole inside as well, but I assumed you had not, even though the photo's are not that obvious I will give a try to sandpaper then, just for the heck of messing around with a 400 euro delicate instrument..

If you don't mind me hijacking your topic, I will post pictures of the process so other people might learn from my (hopefully not to many) mistakes
If you have any detailed tips to give, please do. And using aluminium polish.. isn't that a bit dangerous on the lungs/fingers etc?
I myself have the mat green low D, so it might be easier than the glossy versions.

will keep you folks updated!
Lucas

[D Mc]

Lucas, yes by all means, post your progress on this thread. Mine was flat black and if you look closely at the first picture, you can see that it is still black on the inside of the wind way opening and the edges of the tuning slide. The anodizing on the inside is fully intact. Work carefully so as not to damage any edges. The anodizing is hard and will require some effort to break through. Take your time and good luck.

David

[Sirchronique]

I used to have a couple of polished black MK Pros, and I didn't feel that the polished ones had any issues with being too slippery. Perhaps the matte finish gets more slippy?

That being said, I definitely love the look of what you have done with your MK. I greatly prefer the all-metal look. The only thing that would make it look fancier is if it were brass!

[Macca]

Great job on the whistle polishing. Looks great. I used to build Streetfighter motorcycles and I've stripped the anodised coating of many a bike part. It takes a lot of effort, but well worth the effort. Prepping and polishing a flute would be a similar process to the anodised forks on a motorbike.

[luukzs]

Great job on the whistle polishing. Looks great. I used to build Streetfighter motorcycles and I've stripped the anodised coating of many a bike part. It takes a lot of effort, but well worth the effort. Prepping and polishing a flute would be a similar process to the anodised forks on a motorbike.

Hey there Macca,

Could you give me any tips and tricks on how you do it? I have to wait another month before I can start anyway.

I now really want to do it, in the past 2 months I got 2 comments on the MK that just get to me "that's a great sound for a plastic flute"
And I can't blame them, it looks like a plastic toy a bit. Luckily I also get less hurtfull remarks :p

[pancelticpiper]

in the past 2 months I got 2 comments on the MK that just get to me "that's a great sound for a plastic flute"
And I can't blame them, it looks like a plastic toy a bit.

Yes when I was playing a green MK and a red MK I would get comments like that all the time. People would give the whistle a quizzical look and ask what it was made of, and they were always surprised when I told them metal.

Now that I play a black MK I get the same thing, but people assume that it's wood half the time, plastic the other half.