For those of you desperate for more whistle “porn”…some recent whistles to leave my stable
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Adam Modares recently won the above set of blackwood c/d whistles in our annual tionol raffle. It cost him $10 in tickets and $5 in gas…
The collection on the left is a D/C set of whistles and a Bflat whistle made from curly lemonwood. The three whistles on the right include a pink ivory d/c set and a blackwood 3 piece “wallet whistle”.
Any problems working with Pink Ivory? I had a devil of a time with it-- might be that my walls are thinner than yours, but out of about 8 or 10 pieces, I actually only ended up with about 2 non-cracked whistles. Too bad, 'cause PI is gorgeous stuff.
Jeeze where are all these exotic woods coming from. So many I’ve never hear of. Every time I check a site, they have more.
Hey I’ve got some wood you might be interesting in. It’s called…Offwhite Plastic Heart. It…mmm…looks just like PVC, but it’s actually a really really expensive import no one has seen befor. I’ve alread turned it into tubes, too. I might be convinced to part with some of it for the right price…
Seriously, it seems like a new exotic wood comes to light evey week.
thanks Paul!..yep…pink ivory is a major pain to work with… I don’t really know what* it is about the stuff..every time I use it I swear it’s the last time I’ll EVER use the stuff..but it makes an awfully bright and sweet whistle. I don’t know…I’ve never had a problem with cracking…and my whistle walls are actually closer to yours now..I’ve made some upgrades and design changes both in aesthetics, tuning and sound. The best description I’ve ever been able to come up with in regards to the stuff is that it’s well…wiggly! It seems to have a mind of it’s own…It’s nigh on impossible to get the stuff to behave properly, it almost seems to shy away from tools!
I like the wallet whistles myself for a constant companion, easily fit’s into the breast pocket of a man’s dress shirt, or the inside of a coat pocket, or into even the smallest of purses.
Oh, uh…yeah I’ve heard of those. It’s the NEW new ones I saw. Like…uh…Oingo boingo white blackheart…or the Romono Cheesewood. Or the Curly Pigseye Plywoodheart, or the Doody Pooheart. Thats the new ones I hadn’t heard of. Or the Schedual 40heart. I think it also comes in Schedual 20heart too…
What method are you guys using to hold the wood while turning: Full length mandrel, partial length expanding mandrel, collet or chuck and cup center…? Just curious because, as luck would have it, we were discussing Pink Ivory in the shop just yesterday and, having made a few smaller recorders out of the stuff, no mention of it being particularly pesky to turn, nor a tendancy to crack, so your accounts pique my interest.
Amazing just how dark the stuff gets over time, almost looks like dark rosewood after a number of years.
OK, this brings up a question about wooden whistles. I thought you had to swab them out after playing. But I gather now that you can wait a few hours with no damage to the whistle?
I use a full length, cylindrical mandrel. It’s knurled a bit at the headstock end to grip the wood.
My cracking might possibly have been due to my source of wood. I recently bought two pieces from another dealer at the request of a customer, and so far both pieces are fine.
I have never had a piece sit around long enough to see that color change, but if both of these pieces work out, I plan to make a whistle for my wife from one, so I may be lucky enough to see the change…
