Years ago I had either an excel file or other formula file that I think I got off this site for determining the measurements needed when building a flute or whistle. All you did was to enter the diameter of the pipe used and the key you wanted and the chart would calculate the diameter of the holes and would show I think the frequency of the tuning. Does anyone recall where I might be able to download that file? Also, I am preparing to take on the challenge of building Irish flutes and was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of the equipment needed? Since I was originally looking at making wooden instruments I was considering a wood lathe but I will have to investigate what might be needed for metal instruments. Thanks for any advice.
Scottie
Scottie, as for calculators there are a few I can point you to. Each has their own character and value. You be the judge.
Daniel Bingamon’s TWCalc: http://www.kingsmills.us/twcalc/twcalc.htm
DrPhill’s TWJCalc: http://sourceforge.net/projects/twjcalc/
Pete Kosel’s Flutomat : http://11wall-west.com/~ph_kosel/flutomat.html
Those should get you started. There are others as well. I think many of us modify the formulas especially for the “end correction” factors.
Tooling for making whistles and flutes is a matter of personal choice. What you use may be dependent on your craftiness, ingenuity and budget. I can point you to several sites which will illustrate what several flute and whistle makers use. You see some things in common across the shops but you will also see a lot of variation. If you search out whistle/flutemakers on the web a few of them will have photos of their shops. While these are likely not intended to help build the shopping list of other aspiring makers, a savy craftsman can take a lot away from examining the pictures.
Start with these. Note that there are extremes. Sometimes more is less. And by the way, we should thank all of these craftsman for letting us see into their shops.
Luc Ver Hoeven: http://users.skynet.be/fluiten/how.html
Terry McGee: http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/making.html
Patrick Olwell: The Keymaster http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPOpiGsJ_G4 That’s just the teaser. You will want the whole film. http://www.thekeymastermovie.com/
Martin Doyle: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tindoyflu/ There are many photos of his shop here. I am looking for a link to a shop visit someone once posted which is terrific because of the number of photos and details you can see. (Found it) Thanks to Nick Hand: http://slowcoast.co.uk/soundslides/soundslide.php?id=132
Tyrone Head : http://www.theflutemaker.com/tutorials.php
Cary Parks: Shop Photos
Colin Goldie: http://www.colingoldie.de/showalbum/items/workshop.html
Misha Somerville: http://www.mishasomerville.com/category/whistles/
Sweetheart: http://www.sweetheartflute.com/Articles/tour.html
Alba: http://www.albawhistles.com/about/index.php
Guido Gonzato: http://www.ggwhistles.com/howto/index.html
There are others you can seek out as well.
There was once a nice video blog on YouTube by Thomas Clark which showed how he made his first couple of flutes using Terry McGee’s plans. His videos are not available anymore AFAIK. He is a guitar builder and his shop was interesting to see. He also showed a lot of the learning he went through as a result of mistakes which I found enlightening. His thought process was interesting. These photos remain. http://www.behance.net/gallery/Flute-construction/989615 I’ll keep looking for the videos.
What tooling you need and what you use is up to you. For flutemaking I’d suggest you start with a good set of plans like those from Terry McGee. Join the Yahoo Flutemakers group too. The activity there ebbs and flows but the archives are full of great stuff. Spend a few months reading through them if you can. I have not checked in there in a long time myself.
I can tell you what I use in my shop as well. It’s a long list but I could outline things if you like. I have a decent woodworking shop with all the usual woodworking machinery including several types of machine saws, a jointer, planer, routers, sanders (oscillating spindle sander is tops), etc. I use a 10X38" wood lathe. I have four machine/engineering lathes ranging from 3X8" up to 10X22" used for various tasks. I use a floor standing drill press with a generic table holding a custom tone hole drilling fixtutre. I also use a buffing machine, a bench grinder and a sharpener. I have several specialized fixtures powered by Dremel motors. A couple of air compressors and a vacum/dust collection system. I have a small milling machine on the way. That’s the big stuff. You will need specialty tooling and the normal consumables for most of the machine tools too.
A computer in the shop is one thing I use more than I would have ever thought when I started but it contains all my designs, blueprints, work orders, tick sheets as well as the shop inventory. I can do my materials ordering from there now too. It saves me more trips up and down the stairs than I can count.
The list of hand tools is too long to list. But you can never have enough files.
Hope that helps. Good luck.
Feadoggie