I thought I’d post a few photos of my first Two-Piece Soprano D Flute. I purchased a metal lathe recently and this is the results.
The design is pretty generic but as I hadn’t used a lathe in 30 years, It took me while to work out how to make it do what I wanted it to.
The image below is all the parts made individually on the lathe, before assembly.
The flute plays well and is loud and clear but I want to make a few more cosmetic adjustments before I’m 100% happy with it.
Very nice indeed! The wee flag’s a nice touch. Did you start out with a tube, or did you ream it? (Is that the right term when it’s metal?)
Is that aluminum? If it were titanium, you could probably anodize it with nice colors …
I’d love to hear it at some point if you could post a sound clip. 
Yes I used two different OD’s of Aluminium Pipe, 19.05mm and 22mm (I think) then 12mm acetal rod for the cork, so it is straight bore as a Penny Whistle I’m sure I can have Aluminium Anodised, Im thinking of knurling the joints at the crown and body then having one anodised black to see how it turns out.
It’s early days but I have some ideas to customise them.
I’ll post a clip later today.
What key? High D?
Very cool.
Remember that anodizing alters the thickness, so plan accordingly.
Yes High D
Very nice indeed.
What is the wall thickness?
The wall thickness is 3.2mm . I have posted a few clips of me playing the flute on Youtube, here is the latest.
Hi,
Can I ask about the Tuning on the second octave?
Do you also have a polymer lip plate?
I dont like the taste of aluminum.
Also do you also produce it in different keys?
Do you do multiple body in single head?
Like B C# and C.
How about oval or squarish oval embouchure?
Howabout finger offset for left wrist easy reach?
Sorry to many questions.
Regards,
Angel
Hi Angel, the simple answer to your questions is No.
It comes as described and it’s fine in the low and middle register and with a small adjustment of the crown you can sharpen the high F# and G in the high register if you prefer to plau5 it as a fife. I am developing a Fipple head for the two piece flute and I could make a raised lip plate from black acetal plastic if you preferred but there isn’t any taste from an aluminium flute not unless you French kiss it.
I may make other models in different keys in the future and definitely want to make one from Blackwood however, presently I am concentrating on the D flutes.
Regards
Stu
Here’s a couple of pics of the whistle head I made earlier today, it is in tune ok but a little quieter than the when played with the flute head on.
Good stuff Stu, taking your enthusiasm for flutes to another level , would love to give it a wee go myself one day , very well done big chap 
That looks really great, Stu. I can’t imagine what it feels like to have actually made something like that yourself. (Apart from anything else, whenever I do try to imagine it, I get jealous. 
)
Good stuff.
I’ve just listened to the flute on your latest vid, too. Sounds great. Really nice, clear sound.
Cheers Ben, I always wanted to have a go at making a flute and have tinkered over the years but I’ve never really had any success in making one that was in tune and looked ok. The model above is easy enough as its straight bore like a fife and it helps having a lathe, but I want a different challenge so I am looking into making a flute bore measuring gauge and eventually my own reamers, then I’ll be able to copy the internal dimensions of flutes that I like the sound of.
I’ve just made a body from Delrin and swapping the whistle heads and flute heads onto it is interesting as it does sound so different than the aluminium body. I am expecting a delivery of African Blackwood, Mopane and Boxwood over the next few days and I’m looking forward to experimenting with the different woods.
If Anyone is interested I will post an update.
This is the Delrin Body with the Aluminium Whistle Head.
Yes please!
Ok so the wood arrived today, I’ve left the Mopane and Blackwood to one side and started on the Boxwood. It turns really well with very small chippings coming off and very smooth finish before I even polished it. So far I’ve only manged to make a body which I’ve attached a pic of, I hope to get some time tomorrow to make a head but I fear I may have to use a metal socket to take the tenon as I don’t have a drill bit big enough to bore this.
I’ve tried playing it with the metal head and the jury is out. I think it will sound much better with a wooden head.
I made a few errors when working on the head joint and couldn’t believe the amount of waste chippings from the piece of Boxwood when I finally had my two pieces ready. I initially made a crown from Aluminium but when polishing it up, the aluminium bled into the boxwood and made it look dirty so I made a crown from some of the remaining Boxwood. The ring on the bottom is off an old Bb flute but I will fit three rings soon.
I’m pretty happy overall with the sound, I have started to uploaded a clip to my Youtube account and it will be available at the following link shortly. https://www.youtube.com/user/AccordionStu/videos
If anyone has any tips on finishing Boxwood, sealants waxes etc, I’d be really interested.
That looks lovely. I especially like the crown. I’ll have a listen in a bit …
… I’ve listened. Nice. It sounds as if there’s more potential to be got out of the upper octave - is that getting used to it or do you think the flute itself needs to kind of ‘mature’? I know nothing about making these instruments, so this is just guesswork on my part, and genuine interest. I really like the tone, by the way.
Cheers Ben, When the flute warms up it will reach high G comfortably, but also the bottom D is very strong and it cuts through jigs and reels easily enough. the highest note on this particular tune was high E and the first time I played it I was conscious that I only lifted my right ring finger off the D hole slightly so it wasn’t as clear but you can hear it the second time around fine.
The walls are very thin, thinner than I had originally planned and I am not sure how this alters the tone or timbre of the instrument but I have already changed the method I will use for the Mopane version of this flute, I will make it much thicker. If it doesn’t sound good, I can always turn it down and make it thinner.
I recently started servicing some band flutes (16) for a band from Liverpool so I need to finish these off before I start making the Mopane Flute, hopefully mid December I will have it ready and a Blackwood one for Christmas
I want to fit silver rings to the Blackwood flute and have ordered some inexpensive plain wedding bands but I suspect these may be rounded on the inside and may not be suitable so may just make them from Stainless Steel pipe. I guess I’ll keep experimenting until I get something that I’m 100% happy with.
