Tuning Slide - Teflon Tape v. Cellophane Tape

[Tyler DelGregg]

My aluminum whistles use teflon tape on their tuning slides. They're functional, but tend to bunch up and don't look nice. On one of the whistles, I took the teflon tape off and applied a little bit of the clear cellophane tape. They work just fine.

a. Has anyone else done this?
b. Could the glue on the cellophane tape lead to problems?

[kkrell]

IMO, you shouldn't use either, but have the headjoint or body properly sized to fit, or squeezed and slightly ovalled if that's the easiest way to make them stay together. O-ring replacement for those whistles that use them.

Out of the 2 alternatives you've offered, I would prefer Teflon, and reapply as necessary. Adhesive is always a bad thing in slides, and any adhesive exposure just risks attracting dirt and causes scratching of the metal.

Colin Goldie suggests teflon tape:
http://www.colingoldie.de/faq-leser/ite ... ghter.html

So does the Whistle Shop:
http://www.thewhistleshop.com/catalog/w ... s/tape.htm

[Mr.Gumby]

Have you tried the, perhaps more old fashioned/traditional, mix of vaseline (petroleum jelly) and beeswax? As Kevin said though, that assumes a good fit of the slide's parts.

[syn whistles]

Waxed dental floss may be an alternative.

[Steve Bliven]

Not to be contrary to those more experienced, but wouldn't wax/vaseline or the wax from dental floss catch dirt/grit and possibly lead to scratching or abrasion?

Best wishes.

Steve

[Mr.Gumby]

wouldn't wax/vaseline or the wax from dental floss catch dirt/grit and possibly lead to scratching or abrasion?

It was recommended to me by several flutemakers. I don't think either vaseline or beeswax is abrasive.

[an seanduine]

To understand a little better what you are up against look here: http://news.stanford.edu/pr/00/aluminum511.html
If you use a lubricant, and the Vaseline/bee's wax mix is good, you should periodically completely wipe it off and re-apply fresh.

Bob

[Steve Bliven]

wouldn't wax/vaseline or the wax from dental floss catch dirt/grit and possibly lead to scratching or abrasion?

It was recommended to me by several flutemakers. I don't think either vaseline or beeswax is abrasive.

I only mention it because a couple of whistle makers suggested it might be a bad idea. Not that the vaseline or beeswax are abrasive on their own, but that they might catch and hold any abrasive materials that managed to sneak onto an exposed part of the tuning slide. Mind you, I only raise this as a potential—it hasn't happened to me since I've been lucky and haven't had any loose tuning slides.

Perhaps some of the other whistle and/or flutemakers will respond. I'm sure they know more than I do.

Best wishes.

Steve

[chas]

An off-the-shelf alternative to Peter's suggestion of vaseline/beeswax is was toilet gaskets. If the fit is really loose, this may not work.

Steve, a lubricant is a bad idea if the fit is really tight; as you suggest it will attract grit and eventually degrade the slide. However, if the fit is even a little loose, a really viscous lubricant works just fine.

As to the OP, cellophane tape would scare me a little. How about just not moving the slide that much so that the teflon tape doesn't bunch up?

[Steve Bliven]

An off-the-shelf alternative to Peter's suggestion of vaseline/beeswax is was toilet gaskets. If the fit is really loose, this may not work.

Steve, a lubricant is a bad idea if the fit is really tight; as you suggest it will attract grit and eventually degrade the slide. However, if the fit is even a little loose, a really viscous lubricant works just fine.

Since we're both right, maybe the OP could use Shimmer.

Best wishes.

Steve

[Mae]

I personally would just stick (no pun intended) with the Teflon tape. Those are designed to be used plumbing pipes (various metals, plastics, etc.) and create water-tight seals without the use of adhesives. When thin, maybe only a layer or two, it acts like a lubricant (mostly on threads, though). When bunched up or multi-layered, it fills in gaps and works as a sealant. It's cheap and great stuff.

Any waxes and oils will start building up after a while, and, unless you are really dedicated to cleaning out your instruments, will start causing problems. When I use cork grease on my recorders, every once in a while, I have to carefully scrape off the build-up with a wooden toothpick.

[brewerpaul]

Teflon for sure. Use the minimal amount needed to do the trick. Get it on there nice and snugly and put the parts together with a twisting motion. Twisting one direction will loosen the tape and cause it to bunch up, depending on which way you applied it.
Once you've got the whistle tuned, you shouldn't have to move the slide much unless you disassemble the whistle to put it in a case.

[bogman]

I agree with Paul above, definitely Teflon tape for alloy whistles. I don't know why you'd try anything else. Wrap the tape on tightly and neatly and if you wind it on clockwise then twist the head on clockwise, as Paul describes. If it's bunching then it's too tight. Unless you're playing in extreme conditions such as hot direct sunlight or high altitude when the air is thin, you should never need to tune your alloy whistles. Even in extreme cold you still have to warm the mouthpiece up to working breath temperature before playing so you shouldn't be pushing in the slide to compensate for the cold. Usually if you see someone farting about with their tuning slide at a session all they're really doing is just farting about. When you've set your whistle up to be in tune with normal breath temperature then it should pretty much always play the same in normal conditions, it's just the player that plays out of tune.

[highwood]

you should never need to tune your alloy whistles

in which case you should probably just buy a non tunable whistle ...

it's just the player that plays out of tune

well sometimes the whistle helps out a bit - still if its out of tune I guess you can blame the player whether or not the whistle is contributing as they are playing it.

I've been known to "f*rt" about with my tuning slide - perhaps I've been been playing outside in stupidly hot or cold conditions, or I'm trying to match other players, or maybe the slide was unknowingly moved and needs putting back, or maybe I want to play very quietly but not flat, or ...

I'll grant you that 9 times out of 10 my slide is in a standard place - but it does vary a wee bit with the seasons.

[pancelticpiper]

Yes if there's enough space in between I'd use thread or some such, but usually it's too narrow for that, and I use Teflon tape.

As mentioned above the ideal thing, perhaps, is a simple metal-to-metal fit.

You can take your whistle to an Instrument Repair Technician, who will have a set of tapered mandrels and they can slightly expand/flare the tenon so that it's a snug fit in the socket. They can make the fit exactly as snug as you wish.

The trouble with just squeezing the tenon so that it's ovoid is that now you have the potential for leaks on both sides. Maybe the whistle will play fine with the leaks, maybe not.

Yes the ideal whistle is the one-piece non-tunable whistle, due to having no perturbation of the bore and no potential for leakage. The thing is: what temperature is the whistle set to play in tune at? Here in the US Southwest it's usually warm, and whistles made in other places (presumably cooler) tend to play too sharp. Hence non-tunable whistles usually aren't a good option here, it depends on the whistle.