AngelicBeaver wrote:
Does anyone have experience with copper whistles? For the longest time, I've thought a copper whistle in the style of a Chieftain V3 would be pretty sweet looking, although a copper low D would be pretty heavy.
How would copper work as something you put your mouth on or handle frequently? Would it require a coating of some sort? Ideally, a bright copper finish or a green patina would be used, or perhaps a combination of both.
Besides the weight, I'd be concerned about corrosion on the inside or what might happen with frequent skin contact, like blackened lips or fingers.
I have made a number of copper penny whistles.
I use nylon rod for the fipple block
I have a number of photos of the build process however cant work out how to upload photo to this site yet.
I have had some success in decorating my whistles via etching the copper with HCl and Hydrogen peroxide solution. I transfer designs onto the copper by firs printing the design on my laser printer and then using a very hot household iron to fuse the laser printer "ink" onto the copper. I submerge the copper into the HCl peroxide mix for a number of hours.