I have found several sites out there in the WWW about how to make your own whistle out of PVC or Copper, but are there any out there about turning one out of wood?
ayreforce pyper,
Hello. I guess there isn’t a DIY site for wooden whistles. If you have not made a few PVC/CPVC or copper/brass whistles, I would suggest you start there and get your design parameteres set. Or at least go through the discovery process of what design changes effect what while using the less expensive materials. Then move to wood.
There are several books on making woodwinds, if you’d care to go that route.
If you are lucky, you may be able to find an old issue of the Woodwind Quarterly in which Glenn Schultz outlined his process for making his wooden whistles. That is generally what got me started down this path.
The tools and techniques you would use to form the wooden tube are common to the making of wooden flutes or pipe chanters. Recorder making is very applicable to the subject of whistles. In some ways, pen turning is similar to making a wooden whistle but the tools required are bigger. There are several sites on those topics - easily searched on the Internet. There are also forums like C&F over on Yahoo dedicated to whistle and flutemaking. The whistle forum has been dormant for some time though. You could still read your way through the existing posts. The flutemaker’s forum contains a wealth of good information.
If you’d like to see the flute making process, and what you are working towards, take a look at Terry McGee’s flute site. He has a page on how he makes his flutes which should give you some ideas.
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/making.html
I’ll warn you though - making a good wooden whistle isn’t a weekend project. And they are like potato chips - you can’t just make one.
Let us know what turns out.
Feadoggie
Thanks for the info!
I have made whistles out of copper before, and have even gotten them in tune 
I would like to learn how to make wooden whistles, but am not sure about how to start, other than the very basic (i.e. learn to turn wood, basic woodworking skills) I am looking for a wood turning class now, but it will be a few months before another one comes up in my area.
Anyone know of any workshops on whistle making in New York?
Cheers,
James
Making wooden whistles is not something to be undertaken lightly. You will need a lot of expensive equipment for starters. The biggest part of the job is getting a rough piece of wood bored and turned into a thin walled tube. For starters you might want to play around with a readily available, cheap thin walled tube like PVC plumbing pipe. This can be turned into simply wonderful whistles, as the Water Weasel attests.
To get a bit of an idea of what’s involved in making wooden instruments, here’s how Terry McGee makes wooden flutes. A lot of the same techniques are used in wooden whistle making:
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/making.html
I’m not trying to discourage you. I’d just like you to know what you’d be getting yourself into. That said, making wooden instruments is wonderfully satisfying and will teach you a world about problem solving.
I see you’re in NY (city?)- I live up near Albany and you’re welcome to come up some time and see how I make my whistles.
Thanks again for the info.
Brewerpaul, I’m closer to the Buffalo side of the state, but the next time I am over your way, I would certainly like to see how you make your whistles.
This is a long term goal for me. I have thought about it for a few years, and figure it’s time to start getting a direction to go in, at least.
Cheers,
James
Hi ayreforce pyper,
This is two links in french :
http://fluteirlandaise.free.fr/indexter.html
http://www.flute-a-bec.com/
I hope it will be usefull.
Olivier
Thanks for the links, Olivier.
You can also view a short YouTube video which is from an episode of the TV show “How It’s Made” showing the construction of a recorder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiSW6LPchSc
It’s another decent overview of one set of procedures you could employ to make a whistle.
Feadoggie
While on this subject not to Hijack, but to save from starting a new subject when we have a captive audience… Is there anywhere to buy metal tuning slides for whistles?
Is there anywhere to buy metal tuning slides for whistles?
You should look for K&S brass tubing - sold at hobby shops and some better craft shops. This stuff is designed to be telescoping tubing. Each size nests inside the next size up. If you are making PVC/delrin/aluminum whistles, one piece will work. If you are making wooden whistles, I would suggest inner and outer slides using two adjacent sizes. You select the size that best fits your design. These tubes are a sliding fit. To get a firm fit, one that will hold your tuning position, you will want to gently expand the diameter of the inner slide. You can buy K&S brass on the web as well. Here is just one possible URL.
There are other possibilities, such as machining your own out of various materials. Use your imagination. If all else fails, you can draw your own tubes.
Feadoggie
Try some bamboo first before making a big investment, Find out if your more of a player or more of a builder,
smallparts also has telescoping tubing..