I have a cane whistle that I bought in India many years ago for a few cents, and I just received a G cane whistle from Song of the Sea.
I love the sound of these instruments and I wonder why people are making life hard for themselves fabricating homemade whistles out of copper pipe and other such materials which require hammers and brute force. There must be a good reason… what is it?
The first thing I want to do is tune the one I just got. The holes all the same size, giving a scale that’s a bit too peculiar even for me and my anti-equal-temperatment tendencies. So I need to enlarge a couple and am wondering how to set about it. Would a file or a knife be the best approach? (Am I right in thinking that the tone holes were perhaps burned rather than drilled into the cane?)
The next thing I’d like to do is have a crack (no pun intended) at making one. Where does one obtain cane, or bamboo, and what’s the difference, and which is best?
I got a Bb bamboo whistle from Erik the Flutemaker about three weeks ago. You are right, they do (at least he does) burn the holes in–at least, that’s the picture it shows on his website. I would e-mail him about where he gets his cane and bamboo. I found him extremely helpful and kind, and I’m sure he’d be happy to help you out with any questions you have. His site is: http://www.eriktheflutemaker.com
I’ve been making bamboo quenas, flutes and a few shakuhachi for years and have quite a few tips that may help as well as ideas on what tools work best for certain jobs. If you would like to email me feel free, I’m not sure everyone wants to hear. The main difficulty in working with natural materials is variation. A copper or brass pipe has a consistant internal/exterior diameter, wall thickness, cross section, surface texture etc. Bamboo and other natural material varies tremendously. Bamboo is also extremely hard on cutting tools of any kind.
If youre starting out, I would suggest heating a nail up with a propane torch to create and enlarge holes followed by sanding with very fine emory paper. Make sure you do it in a very well ventilated area (outside) as this will create large amounts of pretty acrid smoke.
I have never tried to cut, drill, or machine bamboo but I am an avid woodworker. I have never encountered any kind of material (wood, steel, plastic, brick) that cannot successfully be drilled with a quality HSS or cobalt drill bit plated with titanium nitride. To test how durable the titanium nitride bits are I once drilled holes in a hardened steel file - to my surprise it cut through it fast and clean without a lubricant. I suppose it should have come as no surprise as the titanium nitride coating was originally developed for milling bits (which mill steel). Anyway, surely using such bits would be easier, safer (no smoke), and would produce cleaner holes in bamboo than burning a hole?
Enlarging a hole is a different matter though. Chances are if you tried to drill out an existing hole with a bigger bit the bit would just catch an edge of the material and split it or splinter it.
How about a Dremel tool? Those things are great for stuff like this.
[ This Message was edited by: garycrosby on 2002-01-15 10:37 ]
You’re right about using high quality bits. The ones I use are HSS bits that I’ve reground to a shallower angle. Bamboo splits easily so if the bit is too aggressive, or dull, it will catch and split. Brad point bits do not work with bamboo. I don’t burn holes anymore just because the smell lingers and many find it unpleasant. I use a dremel (truly an instrument maker’s best friend) with milling bits or PCB bits and a carbide smoothing bit for most tasks now.
High speed and sharp tools that remove small amounts of material work the best. I ruined many feet of bamboo trying to use cheap bits and a handheld drill. Good quality files, not Chinese needle files, also work well. Chainsaw sharpening files work particularly well to enlarge holes in almost any material. Smoothing the bore is done with conical rasps and home smithied, long handled scrapers (It helps knowing some blacksmithing as well )
Thanks for all the good information, everyone. Mark, I’ll follow your suggestions regarding enlarging holes on the existing whistle and if it’s OK, I may ask you more detailed questions by email at some later time.
I wouldn’t think you need worry about boring anyone - everyone on this board just loves arcane technical information. Don’t they?
