I’ve always been fascinated by wood and musical instruments. I built and sold several lap dulcimers when I was in school, have built several other instruments. So about a month ago I got myself a JET 9x20 lathe with the eventual goal of making wooden flutes. I figured I should learn to walk before I run, so I’m starting with whistles. I finished my first yesterday. Here’s a pic:
(Does anyone know the name of this tune?) The design is loosely based on the Abell/Schultz/Busman design. The body is made from a cedar tree I cut down in my yard a few years ago. There’s some sap wood on the bottom side. The rings are some Thai boxwood I got from a flutemaker. It’s no good for instrument bodies, but turns nicely. The whistle is far from perfect, but considering I had never turned a piece of wood till a month ago, I’m pretty pleased with it. I tell ya, I’ve found ways to make wood explode that I’d never thought possible.
The link doesn’t seem to be funcitioning for me, but I’m anxious to hear it. I’m sure you’ve learned a lot, and are already thinking about what you’ll do the next time around.
Have you tried turning Dymondwood yet? It’s nice and predictable. Cedar can be a real bear to turn, and you’ve done admirably. The boxwood’s nice, too.
Outstanding for a first effort… my first whistles wouldn’t even play!
Just curious - how did you bore the tube with only a 20" lathe bed?
Mine is a 17", and I’ve been sticking to prefab tubing because of the length limitations.
I have to remove the tailstock to turn down the mouthpiece end of anything longer than a low G tube, but I’d like to make some acetal tubes and maybe try wood too.
I should be able to gun drill up to maybe a soprano C tube with a traditional tuning joint, but 1-piece tubes would be out of the question with such a short lathe bed.
I’ve heard mention of removing the tailstock and hand feeding a gun drill, but that sounds like a very good way to injure yourself!
I haven’t tried dymondwood. I knew cedar would be a bear, but it was free. I’ve gotten a bunch of padouk, zebrawood, purpleheart, cocobolo, Honduran rosewood, and English boxwood. I’ll start on the cheap and move on to the good stuff once I start getting predictable results.
This is a two-piece whistle, so no problem. I can drill longer tubes if they’re thin enough by putting the shaft through the hole in the headstock, which is, I think, about 20-21 mm.
Seriously Chas, that’s a terrific looking whistle. FWIW,even with the help of the legendary Glenn Schultz it took me over a year from the day I got my lathe to the day my first whistle played it’s first notes. You are doing fabulously well.
Heckuva lot of fun isn’t it?
You may want to consider a stronger material than Boxwood for your fittings-- various polymers would work well. If I end up with some Delrin too short for a whistle head, I’ll send you a chunk. It machines well and is tough as all getout.
Keep up the good work.
BTW-- Gary, I turn my tubes on a 6x18 lathe, so it CAN be done. The C and D+ tubes are a stretch though: I have to slide the tailstock and gundrill off the bed, mount the wood in the steadyrest, then feed the gundrill into the starter hole and remount the tailstock.. It JUST makes it.
I’m just getting my feet wet with the boxwood fittings. I really wasn’t expecting something playable at this point , so was just using the boxwood to learn about making parts that fit together. I’m looking through the McMaster catalog for brass/bronze/stainless tubing of the appropriate diameters for fittings.* I’ll probably also do some Grinter/Bleazey/Swayne style whistles with all-wood mouthpieces.
I’d certainly be interested in trying some Delrin.
*Any suggestions for other sources than McMaster-Carr and Small Parts? I’ll also be interested in telescoping sterling tube for flutes. I haven’t had any luck finding that.
Gundrill question. After a gundrill goes into the starter hole, does it stay in the center because the stock is turning around it? Seems like if it tried to go off to the side it would break, and that the rotation of the stock is guiding it into center?
Gun drills don’t, in fact, run perfectly straight, they do wander, just less so than some other methods of drilling. They go straighter because they cut through the wood more easily, and so are less prone to wander.
Gun drills can and do break if you try to feed them too quickly, but that rarely happens with most flute makers, because most flute makers feed the gundill through the wood by hand, rather than under power, which is faster, but causes more wandering, and potential for breakage.
That said, good quality gun drills are are not particularly brittle, I’ve seen quite a few bend without breaking.
[quote="Tommy
Gundrill question. After a gundrill goes into the starter hole, does it stay in the center because the stock is turning around it? Seems like if it tried to go off to the side it would break, and that the rotation of the stock is guiding it into center?[/quote]
You can see that the tip of the drill is a cylinder with a 1/4 wedge taken out of it. The starter hole I drill is the same diameter as the gundrill, and about 3/4" deep (I use a bradpoint drill chucked in the tailstock for this). If you get a good accurate starter hole, that hole acts as a guide bushing for the gundrill. The close fit insures that the drill doesn’t wander, and the hole continues nice and straight.
BTW-- if anyone here plans on getting a gundrill for whistles or flutes, be sure to mention to the supplier that you will be using it for wood, not metal. The tip configuration is different.
Thank you Loren and Paul. That is some good information that has been on my mind for a time. Someday when I am not so tight I will get a lath. But for right now I am useing what I have.
Friday I bought a 1/2’’ X 18’’ long drill. I put a piece of stock in my small drill press and drilled a 1/4’’ hole four inches deep to use as a guide hole as Paul mentioned. Then I used a 1/4’’ x 12’’ in a hand held drill to a depth of 11’’ for a pilot hole that did go stright. The 1/2’’ X 12’’ has a 3/8’’ shaft and only the end is 1/2’’ I thought the 1/2’’ drill would follow the 1/4’’ hole but it went out the side about six inches down. Think I can make a fipple or two from that.
Saterday I drilled a 12’’ X 15’’ depth useing my larger drill press that goes to a depth of only six inches. I secured the wood to the table and had to move it up and down many times to clear the chips. I did get in a hurry toward the end and the chips expanded and broke the end out but there is still a section over 12’’ long that is good. I then put a wood dowel through and am shaveing to the od with a draw knife. I rotate it and holding a pencil next to it to wittness where to remove wood. It is round and a little less the 3/4’’ od now. Hope to bring it down to 5/8’'. The wood I am useing is easter red cedar that I cut in 2002 for walking sticks. Sealed the ends and let them dry in the attic.
, so was just using the boxwood to learn about making parts that fit together. I’m looking through the McMaster catalog for brass/bronze/stainless tubing of the appropriate diameters for fittings.* I’ll probably also do some Grinter/Bleazey/Swayne style whistles with all-wood mouthpieces.
