A problem that has plagued me since I began, is consistent quality in my whistles. As you move along in making your operations more efficient, you sometimes have to lose some of the meticulous methods that you used to keep your whistles consistent. One of those methods is checking the distance from the edge of the blade to the “business end” of the fipple plug. Until yesterday, I did that with a pair of dial calipers, with mixed results.
Here, I present a very simple little gauge that worked for me, and might work for you. It consists of a simple rod of Delrin turned to the inside diameter of the tube you use (snug fit), with a set of lines cut into the body at intervals of 0.050" - accurate enough for most fipple setting, as you can achieve 0.025 adjustments with no difficulty - much better accuracy than by hand, alone. And repeatable.
The rod gauge is shown here. The markings are just lacquer ink rubbed into the markings, and sanded off of the body:
The gauge in use, is inserted to the point at which the appropriate scribed mark lines up with the edge of the blade. Then the fipple plug is inserted against it, and glued or otherwise held in position:
Notice that the end of the gauge is chamfered and trimmed to keep glue from getting onto it.
If your head lengths are identical, and cut very accurately, you can use the same idea, but cut the gauge to an exact length and insert it to the shoulder each time. Since I use 3 different lengths of heads, I made the gauge long enough for all 3, and added extra scribed marks.
Got feedback? Got a better way? Let us all know!
Cheers,
serpent
Here’s the jig I built to trim the soundblade to create exactly the same voicing window lenth every time (w/in ~.002"). It screws onto the business end of a Dremel type tool.
It’s called “The Soundblade Trimming Jig.” I’ll post a clip as soon as I’ve recorded it.
Bill, it looks as though you use a method very similar to the way I used to assemble my now defunct copper retrofit heads.
Since switching to PVC though, I now turn down part of the outer diameter of the pipe where the outer sleeve slides on… which keeps the windway from being too tall.
If I still used my old method, I’d definitely have to make myself a gauge like yours… it’s pretty cool idea, and would certainly be much better than having to manually measure the placement of each fipple plug.
Right now I depend on very accurate measurements of the three pieces that make up one of my whistle heads, so the placement of my fipple plug in relation to the edge of the blade depends entirely on how closely I stayed within the designated tolerances for each piece when I made them.
Dial calipers are a necessity, but so are an edge finder, a dial test indicator, and a machinists level.
Oh, and digital readouts on the hand wheels of your lathe and milling machine are well worth the extra money… trust me on that!
By the way, what kind of glue are you using?
I haven’t found anything that sticks to Delrin very well, so I use an assembly method that requires no adhesives.
I know it’s not directly related to Bill’s point–although…
How come most high end re***ers have a removable, just tight fit, plug, which is so convenient?
Also some whistle plastic heads have such a construction: offhand, I’ll cite the Kerry plastic head for low D, or the (RIP) Camac.
Just a question, and not only to serp’, our pet Boa Constructor…
My whistle head is sort of it’s own jig: the face of the plug lines up with the end of the metal head ferrule. Usually, that is… sometimes I have to tweak it back or forth just a tad, since each head is a tiny bit different. I fit the plugs pretty tightly and use epoxy to hold them. It won’t hold the Delrin super tight, and I can knock the plug out if I really need to, but it holds well enough for most purposes. If the plug is not totally snug before gluing, I cut a couple of score lines with a pocket knife to give the epoxy something to hang onto.
This is the kind of thread I would like to see a lot more of. I have no ambitions to become the next whistlemaker but I would like to have the satisfaction of producing a really nice whistle for myself. Another subject of interest would be making the whistle in tune with it self. I know the principle but I would like to see some details, techniques, tools, etc.
I really appreciate you fellows that know what your doing sharing with those of us who are struggling.
I use Apollo 2240 cyanoacrylate, specifically formulated for max hold on Delrin and other nylon-group plastics. I use a pre-treat, Boost 6010, on the fipple plug. Both products are from Cyberbond and can be found on their website http://www.cyberbond1.com
Downside is that Regal has a $100 minimum order, at last count.
CAUTION: Like many cyanoacrylate adhesives, Apollo 2240 gives off some pretty acrid fumes while setting. It only lasts about 30 seconds, but it’s not a good idea to put your nose in the window! It’s not an “instant” bond to skin, but if it does bond to your skin, you play heck getting it off, so it’s better to not get it on you in the first place.
Have fun! (but don’t get stuck to anything!)
serpent
I used a little drop-in Delrin spacer for that for a while, but the window for Eb is different from D is different from C, etc… and I muck about with 'em once in a while, too. The gauge gives me reasonable accuracy, and it allows me to try repeatable tweaks easily.
Cool thing about this business - what works for you, works for you, and might also work for others. And I have to admit, I love the spirit of sharing that takes place here on the C&F fora.
Cheers,
serp
