Hicks Sticks, Caring for your didgeridoo

Epoxy sealed didges

Yidaki, mago and instruments sealed with tung oil

Care guidelines for Hicks Sticks didges sealed with epoxy

Didges sealed with epoxy are pretty bombproof and care is easy. There are just a few concerns with their care:

-Treat them as musical instruments and handle them carefully to avoid scratches and dings in the finish. Avoid dropping them! Lightweight wood didges and agave didges especially are somewhat fragile and can crack from being dropped or stepped on.

- Don't leave them in direct sun for prolonged periods. The epoxy will degrade over time from UV light, so it's best to avoid prolonged sun exposure. It is fine to play them from time to time outdoors in a sunny environment, but don't leave them in the sun or stored where they will be in sunlight.

- Cleaning: These didges are impervious to water and it is recommended to flush them with plain water regularly, and let the water drain and dry with the didge in an upright position to keep them clean.

- Rinsing the mouthpiece with water will help prevent the degradation of the epoxy from Saliva. Interestingly, epoxy is impervious to many harsh chemicals and solvents but the enzymes in good old spit will wear it out over time. Typically in 1-3 years you can expect the epoxy on the mouthpiece to start peeling off in layers. When this happens, the finish can be smoothed out with a little fine steel wool, and recoated if desired. If you want to refinish a mouthpiece, get in touch and I'll fill you in on the details.

- I do not know how impervious epoxy is to things like essential oils and their solvents, and recommend against their use for epoxied didges.

Care guidelines for Yidaki, mago, other eucalyptus instruments and Hicks sticks didges sealed with tung oil.

-Don't play the didge for prolonged periods when it is new or if it has not been played for a while. Allow the wood time to adjust. Natural wood instruments take a while to "warm up" and adjust if left unplayed for long periods of time. The bore needs to absorb some moisture from your breath to develop the best tone, and the wood needs significant time to adjust to the internal moisture. If you leave the bore untreated, you should only play the didge for short periods of time, starting with about 5-10 minutes a couple times a day, and then working up to longer periods over the course of several weeks. Though I do not guarantee against cracking in any unepoxied instrument, instruments well cared for this way can last a lifetime. If the didge repeatedly shrinks and swells radically, you can expect it to crack.

-Don't leave it in the sun or in a hot car.
-When transporting the didge, keep it in a case or some kind of bag that helps prevent significant rapid moisture or temperature changes
-Don't store it in the direct sun even indoors near a window. (It's OK to play it outside in the sun, just don't keep it in sunlight when not in use.)
-Try to avoid huge climate changes like going from a humid coastal environment to desert and vice versa.
-Consider a climate controlled storage room for your priceless collection, or storing each instrument in a case with a humidification device.

If you prefer, there are several options to treat the bore that can help prevent moisture/cracking problems. For traditional instruments I recommend tung oil to retain the natural character of the sound. Using other sealers like epoxy or urethane will change the voice of the instrument permanently.

Oiling is not a guarantee against cracking, but helps very much to prevent moisture problems and cracks. Tung oil polymerizes over time and provides some internal waterproofing which helps reduce the chance of cracking. When the oil is still wet, the yidaki sounds just like when Yolngu pour water into the bore. When dry, the oil has very little effect on the sound. The oil takes a while (days to weeks) to dry and harden, but treating the bore is easy to do and only takes a few minutes per coat. I use two or more coats for initial treatment depending on how much the wood is soaking up.

To seal the bore, tape off the mouthpiece end with plastic tape, pour the oil into the bell end, slosh it around and let it drain out into a plastic container. I cut off the bottom of a 1 gallon plastic milk jug for the container. The leftover oil can be stored in an airtight bottle for use later. Be sure to burn oil soaked rags or paper towels used to clean up. These can otherwise spontaneously combust, and cause a fire.

There is some speculation that oiling a very dry instrument can cause cracking, but I have never found this to be a problem. If you are concerned enough, introduce some moisture to the wood over a few weeks as stated above, and then oil the bore.

The only tung oil that I have found that is guaranteed pure and non toxic is available here: http://www.realmilkpaint.com/oil.html . Their citrus solvent or other aromatic essential oils can be used to thin the oil so it penetrates deeper into the wood. Eucalyptus, tea tree and lemon oil are nice for scent and antiseptic properties. Some folks like orange, peppermint, and other oils too. (Keep in mind though that citrus solvent and essential oils have VOCs that are hazardous to breathe until evaporated.) Dilution ratios are not critical. Thinner mix ratios will penetrate more into the wood, straight tung oil will form more of a surface coating. I usually use a mix of 2 parts oil to 1 part solvent for general use as bore oil, and a 1:1 ratio for penetrating the wood deeply

After initial treatment, it is good to re-oil the bore again after several months, then 6 months to a year, and then every year to few years after that depending on how much it is played. Just do not use anything but pure tung oil and/or other non toxic oils. Hardware store variety Tung oil "finishes" have toxic additives.

Instruments painted in ochre: If you seal an ochre painted instrument with tung oil, you need to be careful to not get the oil on any white pipeclay ochre, which will destroy the fine art work. Some ochre can be sealed with a matte spray acrylic finish to prevent deterioration. Matte fixative from art supply store can work well, and in some cases even Krylon available at WalMart will work. If you decide to spray ochre with a sealer, test a small spot first before spraying the whole instrument to be sure the finish you are using is compatible! The appearance of some white pipeclay ochre that was not originally mixed with enough binder can suffer when treated with sealers.