Question for the community: 3/4" ID PVC pipe seems to be the standard size for home-made irish flutes in D. I made a couple myself, one not being too bad! Is there a reason that 1" ID pipe is not used / is not optimal? Or is it a viable pipe size (understand that hole size and placement would need adjustment)?
Thank you in advance
The 1" pipe might strengthen the low end, but I think you’d find the upper octave hard to reach. A wider pipe favours low notes, a narrower pipe favours high notes.
Useful to remember that Boehm experimented with 20mm tubing, but went back to 19mm because it made the third octave harder. And 19th century Bb flutes used a 20.9mm head bore. So I think a 25mm bore (1") would pose serious issues in the 2nd octave.
Thank you Tunborough and Terry!
-AW
No worries, AW.
If you could find some 20mm bore tubing, I reckon that would be interesting. We Irish flute players are not as concerned with the third octave as classical musicians.
But from my observations, tubing makers even in metricated countries seem to follow the old Imperial sizes, 1/2", 5/8", 3/4", 1" etc. Even if they try to hide it with metric approximations like 13mm, 16mm, 19mm and 25mm. Grumph!
But maybe someone, somewhere, makes 20mm bore tubing?
Keep us in touch with developments!
After my testing, 3/4 "pipes are more suitable for making low E/Eb than for making low D, as the second octave pitch is easier to adjust
Now, Low D whistles are usually a bit wider than D flutes, nearly all the makers I’ve measured are between 21.5mm and 22.25mm (around 7/8 inch).
And most makers use that same tubing for their Low C whistles.
I did get one Low C that had a 25mm (1 inch) bore and its 2nd octave was too stiff, probably indicating that the bore was too big.
So I can’t imagine that 25mm would work for a D flute at all. Might work for an Alto flute.
The funny thing is, I didn’t start out trying to make my own flute. When I decided to try Irish Flute about 18 months ago (having achieved stunning mediocrity at the whistle), I was concerned about many players’ warnings about 3rd finger stretch and managing the spacing of the holes. Since you cannot try on a flute like a pair of trousers at the men’s store, I worried about buying a flute that I would be unable to play. I was considering a Copley, and after explaining my worries, Dave was kind enough to share with me the finger spacings and also the diameter of the R2 hole (the largest on his flute). Off to the hardware store, bought some 3/4" PVC, and I made a mock-up of the flute. I tried it and found that the hole spacing was manageable despite my average-size hands (which coincide nicely with my average playing ability). I bought the Copley flute in Delrin and began my journey. BTW, it’s a fine flute!
At the time I did cut an embouchure to make the mock-up complete, and surprisingly the flute can actually be played. It isn’t great and I am sure my tuner would break if I subjected it to my PVC flute, but it was a pleasant surprise. I may even be tempted to file and undercut the embouchure and holes to see if I can make it into a truly playable flute. Or maybe I will keep learning to play the one I have.
AW