A few weeks ago, someone posted a link to an online calculator for flute and whistle hole placement. I know, I know, I shoulda put it in my Faves, but I didn’t… Silly me.
I have a couple sticks of brass around in an odd diameter, and thought I’d like to take a shot at just using the calc to figger out where to drill the holes for a couple of “recreational” whistles, and just do it to try the accuracy. Anybody remember where it is?
Thanks, 
Bill Whedon
That’s it!
How does one compensate for using a rectangular whistle ‘embouchure’ vs the round embouchure specified in the Flutomat Calculator? Perhaps equal areas?
Re. the embouchure, I dunno how, from a standpoint of Real Science. I’m just going to find the #6 position by experiment, and use the ratios the calculator comes up with from there. I’ll calculate from the edge of the blade to end of body, locate the #6 by assuming 1/2 the width of the embouchure on a flute as a “fudge factor”, and tweek it into position. Then take the ratios of body length calculated from the calc, and drill the rest of the holes. We shall see! 
Cheers,
Bill Whedon
Sounds like a plan… Please let us know how it works out.
I asked the guy who posted the fingerhole calculator the question about the rectangular fipple hole, and here is his reply:
(quote)If you have a working D-whistle, made of the same kind of pipe you want to
use for your C-whistle, that plays well in tune, do this:
Calculate the flute dimensions for a D flute with the same size finger
holes and same type of pipe as your existing D-whistle.
Measure the location of the blown end of your existing whistle and find the
difference between that and the calculated location of a D-flute
embouchure. This difference you can call the “whistle correction”.
Calculate the hole positions for a C flute with the same size
embouchure as the first flute. Apply the “flute correction” you
found from the D-flute to find the correct location for the end of your
C-whistle. The difference, i.e. the “whistle correction” should be the
same regardless of key so long as the same kind of pipe is used and the
same flute embouchure diameter.
However, if you don’t have a working D-whistle made of the same kind of
pipe you want to use for the C-wistle you’ll have to use cut-and-try
techniques to make the C-whistle.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have further questions.
Pete Kosel
Watch the top two holes with the calculator, the top holes being higher frequency are more sensitive and they usually wind up being slightly sharp. Compensate by lower the top two holes by about a millimeter.
Also, you can improve the overall sound by charting the local cutoff frequencies in Excel. Take the X Axis as frequency and the Y Axis as Local cutoff and design it for a smooth uphill line. There will be a little jump between the 3rd and 4th hole. You can also monitor what I call cut-off ratio, take cutoff frequency divided by frequency. Any dips in cutoff ratio will be noticed as dullness in the sound of that tonehole compared to other toneholes.
Paul, Daniel, Pete, thanks much! Good starting points, making fudge-factor-finding much easier!
Paul, with the new dies, jigs, and fixtures, I can rough out about a half-dozen heads an hour, each one letter-perfect as to fipple and blade placement, and blade curvature. What a rush!
Yep, since I’m using a “D”-shaped windway, I ground a radius in the bottom of the bladeset punch, turned a “backstop” to keep from dropping it too far, and it’s amazingly successful, not to mention, loud!
Cheers,
Bill Whedon