I have a friend who is a Tin Smith by trade and he does all of his work with tools and techniques which were used in the early 19th century. It was interesting watching him today solder a seam using rosin and real tin pieces, heated with an alcohol lamp. In my estimation, he is an excellent craftsman; he is interested in taking on the manufacture of whistles and is in need of drawings and specifications. He works currently, full time in a local “heritage village” making articles of tin in the old way–kinda fun. At anyrate, I wondered if anyone out there might have some suggestions as to where a person could obtain some old drawings and specifications? Thanks, Don.
I wondered if anyone out there might have some suggestions as to where a person could obtain some old drawings and specifications?
I don’t think you need drawings. There are plenty of old tin whistles out there or you could use a recent Clarke’s original. Just un-solder it, un-roll it and make your pattern. Of course I am not suggesting knocking-off Clarke’s as a commercial effort.
Feadoggie
The more I think about this, the best way to go, and the one whereby the craftsman will learn the most, is to simply design the whistle from the ground up. That way you get the understanding of how everything “fits” together in a whistle design. Your friend could make a cylindrical whistle using TWCalc or one of the other calculation tools out there and probably get the job done in short order. It will take a few prototypes and tweaks to get it right enough but the learning process would be the 19th century way of doing things. Going with a conical design shouln’t take much longer either. Unless your friend plays the whistle, you may have to provide the experience to test the prototypes.
Feadoggie
Howdy Don
I suggest the book “Ancient European Musical Instruments” by Nicholas Bessaraboff. This is a rare tome of musical instrument specs and diagrams. It is filled with baroque and Renaissance instrument measurments and has a conversion table to produce all the instruments on the plates of Michael Praetorius. You can find it at most public libraries.
I also sugggest joining “The Musical Instrument Makers Forum”
http://www.mimf.com
They have huge archives and resource links.
This site is for Organ Builders, but the diagrams can be adapted to woodwinds.
http://www.organstops.org/
http://www.organstops.org/_apps/Illustrations.html
Last, but not least…The Recorder Homepage.
http://www.recorderhomepage.net/
You be sure to tell your friend that we’re going to want to see pictures of what he makes. Not just the finished product either, the whole creation process.
Thanks for the suggestions. I will try to post some photos of the progress made; I’ve yet to figure out how to do that but will try. My friend isn’t a whistle player; however, I’ll bet that changes in the near future. He is an excellent craftsman and it ought to be interesting to see how this all develops.