iDIDJ Australia Didgeridoo Cultural Hub

Hi Paul,

This is my intuitive feeling about oils vs Bondcrete. I think Bondcrete is better for ochre-painted instruments, whereas oils are better for non-painted or acrylic-painted sticks. Bondcrete is a lot easier to work with, oils can be messy and if one gets just one drop of oil on ochre artwork, it can ruin the look of the instrument. But really, what one uses is a personal thing, everyone has their individual preferences and their likes and dislikes.

I don't treat any of my personal sticks with anything for 2 simple reasons. I can't be bothered! And I don't need to. Sticks here don't crack because the temperature is pretty stable and humidity is never really low due to being close to the sea, and also I don't play incessantly on any one instrument but share the love with lots of sticks

The Beswick mago that I've had for around 20 years I treated because I had to, it was useless in the condition it was in because of numerous air leaks from constant soaking in water and drying, and soaking and drying.

Hope that helps!

Guan

Thanks Guan

I honestly don't know what would happen if I didn't oil a stick, I have never waited to find out! I have a hygrometer so keep a daily watch on humidity levels in my place but I must admit it never naturally goes below 50, usually around the 55 to 70 mark. The only dry instrument I have is the recent old beswick mago, which I wil probably keep that way, seems a shame to oil it after it surviving 25/30 odd years left in its natural state so will only play it in short stints and on high humidity days! I too live near the sea (well the Thames esturary)which I can see from my front room window just about 5 mins walk away but not sure how much affect this has on humidity levels

Paul

Hey Guan, is the inside going white when playing pose any disadvantage to the mago? Will the wood soak up all the PVA? Moisture won't make the PVA drip?

PVA doesn't get soaked up by the wood, it is a seal between the wood and the humid air... so normally you don't get moisted wood.
It's oil (linseed or tung or other, has to be siccative though) that gets soaked up in the wood.
Oil and water dont mix up, so if you soak your wood up with oil, it shouldn't soak water... well that's how I see it.
Plus, siccative oils also act as a seal in surface (siccative means it hardens).
The only disadvantage of PVA going white is aesthetic I guess.

Hi Sasha, hi Francis,

Actually, when PVA is diluted in water it does soak into the wood, the longer the PVA is in the bore, the more it will soak in. I've heard that some people leave watered-down PVA in the bore for days so that it gets right in, but for me, a few minutes is good enough.

Sasha, once the PVA is dry, moisture from the breath might cause the bore to look white temporarily but it goes away. The PVA won't drip because of moisture from the breath!

I'm treating another instrument right now as we speak, I should have recorded the process on video but never mind...

Guan

Excuse my French but... "au temps pour moi !"

Hey I just searched for Polyvine suppliers within my city (Toronto, Canada). Could not find any. Also,they do not ship outside of the UK on the online store. Any ideas of how I may purchase this? If I can't, should I just use the PVA glue on the inside of the bore, and leave the outside alone? Or is there something else I could use? Perhaps another dead flat wood varnish from another company? Or is this a risk?

Hi Sasha,

Try these guys, they ship everywhere:

http://wallpapersrus.co.uk/

Also here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/POLYVINE-DECORATORS ... 1318wt_941

http://cgi.ebay.com/POLYVINE-DECORATORS ... 1318wt_941

Guan

Ahh thanks for that. So the wallpapersrus website sells Polyvine? I couldn't find it on the site.

Do you know anywhere for Bondcrete? I could not find that either.

The wallpaper dudes did sell Polyvine before, you might have to email them.

I don't know about Bondcrete in overseas place, do a google search and see what you come up with. Otherwise I can send from Australia but postage might be expensive.

Guan

I searched for Bondcrete, could not find it. Is it worth for me to import it, or should I just use PVA glue?

I'm from Toronto too Ayatollah although I moved to the UK years ago. Whereabouts are you?

I would leave the bore in its natural state unless there was some severe cracking that needed fixing. Just my 2 cents!

Kyle

I am in North York, near Finch and Leslie.
Why would you leave it in its natural state? Is it not better to take precautions in order for cracks not to happen in the first place?

Also, Guan, what do you think about this glue instead of PVA?

http://www.weldbondusa.com/

It looks very similar, and the advantage is that it dries clear.

I used to live at Don Mills and Finch so not too far away!

I'm not too fussed about cracking. A few of my favourite sticks have developed cracks over the years, but that's to be expected, especially in the winter when central heating dries the air out too much. Didgeridoos are made of wood and wood moves so I prefer to leave them as natural as possible. The sound is important to me and I find some bore sealants affect it too much for my liking.

Best of luck whatever your choice.

Kyle

Would it be alright to seal just the bore, and not the outside? What advantage/disadvantage would that pose other than not being as protected? What about sealing the inside and dealing with the outside about a month later.