Polyester Resin Fipple

[JordanII]

I am working on making a PVC whistle similar to the ones made by Glenn Schultz (Thin Weasel). I am wondering if Polyester resin would be a good material for the fipple block. Would it? Thanks!


~Jordan

[emtor]

Try good quality low viscosity epoxy-resin instead.

[JordanII]

Try good quality low viscosity epoxy-resin instead.

Is there something wrong with Polyester or is that just better? Thanks!

[cavefish]

it would crack in temp changes

[JordanII]

it would crack in temp changes

Oh, there's lots of temperature changes in Michigan. It goes from negative numbers in the winter to 100 in the summer.

[MagicSailor]

Hi

Try good quality low viscosity epoxy-resin instead.

That should probably be slow curing epoxy. Many years ago, I asked the Norwegian importer of the West Epoxy system about making a fresh water tank for a boat by building it in plywood and lining with epoxy and glass mat. They said to use their slow epoxy because the faster one has some stuff in it that can be questionable. Apparently, it was still within the norms for food grade, but the slow epoxy had none of that chemical, whatever it was.

I don't remember the numbers, but I think we were talking about something like 24 hour versus three hour curing time at 20 deg C. I would assume that really fast epoxy, like 5 minute stuff probably has even more questionable chemicals. You might want to ask the manufacturer before selecting a product. That said, I agree that epoxy would be preferable to polyester.

Regards,

Owen Morgan

Yacht Magic
Anchored in the lagoon, St Maarten

My new blog.
Click here for my latest reported position. (Use the satellite view.)

[raindog1970]

I am working on making a PVC whistle similar to the ones made by Glenn Schultz (Thin Weasel). I am wondering if Polyester resin would be a good material for the fipple block. Would it? Thanks!


~Jordan

I experimented with cast polyester resin fipple plugs before I got a lathe, and had pretty good luck with it.
You'll have to experiment with how much hardener to use, and you'll need to use a metal tube to cast the plugs, because the resin can heat up enough while curing to melt PVC.
It will crack or break if handled roughly, but the biggest problem is that it also shrinks a tiny bit while curing.
This makes it difficult to always get plugs of uniform diameter, but then PVC pipe has a bit of inside diameter variation that can be used to work around the problem.
Oh, and the stuff stinks to high heaven while curing, which is another drawback.
Seriously though, if you want to make a truly Water Weasel style whistle, you're going to need a lathe.
Then you can easily make fipple plugs from a wide variety of materials, and have complete control over the diameter.
There are many better alternatives to polyester resin, but it's a decent choice for a beginning whistle maker who doesn't have a lathe.

[Gunslinger]

Terve, everybody!

You can (at least in Finland) get POM rod quite cheap. It is easy to work on, it comes in various diameters and it is safe (used in food industry) and temperature resistant and last but not least it is available in black too!

I bought one meter of 2 cm rod (enough for at least 30 whistles) and it was only 13 ar 14 euros. Think about it.

Br,
Heikki Petäjistö

[Feadoggie]

Jordan,

First of all, I agree with the previous posts in general. But as Raindog said, polyester resin is a good choice when you are starting out and especially if you don't have a lathe. I have tried a lot of materials myself and have used polyester resins for several years with good results. Today I only use it on non-tunable whistles which will likely end up in the hands of younger players. They like the colors you can mix up with the resin.

Here are some examples of whistles I made a while back, some using the cast plugs. You can click through the thumbnail to see a larger image.


The whistles nearest the camera, those with the amber and blue plugs were made with cast polyester fipples. The whistle at the far right are tunable, made with lathe turned delrin fipples. What I do is this. I cast the plugs in molds that are short sections of the same CPVC as the whistles I am making. CPVC can vary in dimensions, so use pipe from the same batch. if not the same pipe. I coat the inside of the mold with a thin coat of release agent. I cover the bottom of each mold with plastic wrap and secure it to the mold with a rubber band. Make sure the plastic wrap is as smooth as possible if you anticipate using it as the face of the fipple. I let the molded plugs cure for a week or more in a well ventialted space within the temperature range in the instructions for the resin. Cool weather is good for this. When cured, I just pop the plugs out and finish the whistles.

I will mention that my son has been casting objects in this stuff for years and his expertise helped me a lot at getting the levels of catalyst right in the mix.

Low whistles are fun too. You can layer the colors in the mold and cast small objects into the plug if you like as well. I also tried poly-clay early on as a plug material. It is tricky to cure properly as well, but if you get it right the stuff is chemically similar to CPVC and works nicely.

Hope that encourages you to try it. Let us know how things turn out.

Feadoggie