Re: More on Oils

From: Peter (shakahuna@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Feb 03 2002 - 15:33:40 PST


Nelson, you're a cornucopia of interesting information--keep it coming
:-). I've been using apricot kernel oil on my old, badly cracked flute
for years, but only when it's really drying out and starts leaking a
bit. I got a quart of it in a village in Ladakh where it had been hand
(i.e. cold-stone) pressed. I mention this because I wonder if that has
any effect on its becoming rancid--despite ten years of sitting around
unrefrigerated it still smells wonderfully fresh.
I don't like the idea of oiling my flute in the first place, based
merely on the assumption that putting a heavy, liquid substance like
oil into the bamboo might make it less responsive in terms of resonance
(one of the first things a maker does after all is remove the oil,
right?), so I try to keep it to a minimum. I was once told to use
mineral oil, but along with the others you mentioned, it's a petroleum
product isn't it? I'm sitting here in a pile jacket typing on my
plastic keyboard drinking from a lexan bottle etc etc etc, but I still
don't like the idea of spreading an oil slick on my beloved bamboo.
What do you think? Also, how about the drying properties of apricot
oil, and the rancidity factor, and whether the extraction process
affects it? Thanks in advance,

Peter, as in petroleum

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