Goodness knows how professional flute makers actually make a living!
… it’s all down to careful measurement and precise replication. That is to say, once you’ve made one good one, it shouldn’t take too long to copy it.
There’s a video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiSW6LPchSc showing how a boxwood recorder is made by hand. It’s instructional to see how easy it looks to do, given the right tools and skills
That should be about it. That and, you know, charging a bit more that $5 for them. Even the pakistani flutemakers (and I use the term very loosely) know that!
Nice job! I’ve also followed Doug’s instructions and tried out a modification. I made it tuneable by making it two pieces with a copper tube slide. The copper tube has the same I.D. as schedule 40 3/4" pvc pipe. By heating the ends of the pvc with a heat gun, the pvc becomes soft and you can push the copper tube in. The pvc expands just enough for the copper to fit in. I may try another with the black pipe you used. Thanks for posting.
Here’s another source though it might only be wholesale. But it appears they cell a thin walled black pipe which could be used to make black lip plates. They also sell a black schedule 80 which might be worth experimenting with: http://www.candsplastics.com/CatBrowse.asp?Category=4
He would really laugh if he really knew how many of us ordered the same 20 feet for flutemaking. I ordered 20 feet last week. It came in a box in 5 foot lengths fyi. It works quite well btw.
I built two PVC flutes in a friend’s father-in-law’s hardware store. They had a drill press and other tools there. His FIL and all his FIL’s buddies laughed and laughed their heads off too, until I finished, played a tune, and told them some guy (Doug) charges $50 for these on the internet. Then they were way more than interested. Capitalists!
Well, salvo does have black coupler. I made two piece by heat gun and expanded the head and fit the body (old piece white pvc) to mold around it. Works ok. A bit crude. Seal is great.