Hi-- I don’t consider this a commercial whistle since I don’t intend to sell these.
A while back someone posted about some bamboo whistles. I got curious about working with that material, so I asked about sources for the proper size bamboo on a flutemaker’s message board. One fellow sent me some pieces and I started tinkering with them during the periods when my freshly bored wooden whistles were “resting”. Here is the result:
And a closeup of the heads:
There is a normal brass tuning slide in the whistles. I had to make the black head ferrules individually from Delrin, and the “rings” are actually thread bindings, coated in cyanoacrylate glue for durability. I was shooting for a sort of mini-shakuhachi look. They play pretty much like a wooden whistle, maybe a tad quieter.
Very cool, Paul. You have basically made Busman bamboo whistles here, which require a lathe. I have been trying to come up with a very simple way to make a bamboo whistle and haven’t yet been able to. I make bamboo flutes and fifes, though (made a Low F yesterday). I made a high d minor shakuhachi last week, too.
And especially suitable for playing “The Swamp Reed March”
More seriously, it will be interesting to see how they hold up over time compared to your more conventional wooden whistles.
I’ll admit, though, that considering the way I haul my whistles everywhere my first Busman order should be for a Delrin model (if you’d seen how battered my “carry-around” whistles are, you’d know why).
Any problems getting a good labium edge? Carving anything fiberous can be a nightmare (that’s how we do our labium edges anyway, hand carving, perhaps you have a diffferent method?)
I don’t plan to sell these for many reasons. I’m not sure how avaliable bamboo in the correct size will be: these were actually made from garden stakes which may not prove to be the best, most durable bamboo in the world (although it did seem pretty tough). I made the head ferrule out of Delrin rather than wood because the walls of it are so thin that wood would not be strong enough. I could have made it thicker, but I wanted to maintain the slim profile of the body. Yes Jess, this is basically a bamboo Busman: all essential dimensions are the same as in my wooden whistles, including the bore, voicing etc. I didn’t intend these to play differently-- I was just curious about bamboo and making something with a different look. Loren, I was a bit skeptical about filing a nice labium, but it really worked quite nicely. Once the voicing was done, I did coat the edge with water thin cyanoacrylate glue to stabilize and waterproof it. I also do this on some of the softer, grainier woods that I work with. It essentially makes a plastic edge which holds it’s shape well and does not warp with breath moisture. Longterm, I’m not sure how this whistle will hold up: I plan on treating it just like a wooden whistle including oiling, drying, etc.
