Measure the wall thickness using your ruler. Begin drilling with the 2mm (0.078 inches) drill bit and increase to a larger drill bit just like the 8 mm (0.315 inches). Here is what you get: Clean out the inside of the flute with sandpaper wrapped around a dowel rod about 20 inches long. Continue hollowing out the flute with the sandpaper. Repeat Step 2 on the other side of the wood. Choose the the type of wood, which will affect the sound and feel of the flute as well as how easy it is to work with it. Use a hand sander because this is faster than using sandpaper and doing it by hand. Heat up a small drill bit over a flame, and carefully drill through the marked blowhole and finger holes. Grab a pencil and paper to take note of the things you will need. Cutting wood to size After I have carefully selected my flute wood at a lumber dealer and trucked it back to the shop the first thing I do is cross cut the boards with a chop saw into various flute lengths – 21”, 22”, 23” etc. A how-to tutorial on making a homemade quality native American style flute out of inexpensive PVC. Knock out the solid nodes except for the one near the end serving as your cork. This page provides some plans for making Native American flutes. Cut the pipe to this length. Plans Available at http://JEPLANS.comThe Wooden Flute is a quick Scroll Saw project that really works. Measure the exact placement of the embouchure. These two pages provided the starting point for many flute makers of the early 1970s. Step 1: Cutting the Whistle to Length . The wood used must be left to dry for four or five years, more if possible. You still need to make a tool to bore out the inside of a block of wood and then something to cut the embouchure hole. How to make a Wooden Flute on a Scroll Saw. If the piece of bamboo is a long piece select the part you are going to use and sand it down. Measure 570 mm of pipe. Bamboo should also be well-seasoned and is not cracked. Next, move down one more inch and make a mark. Wooden Headjoints. Sand the sides and the bottom of the flute by hand with 220-grit sandpaper to remove any nicks and scratches. Usually a single piece of wood like 4×4 or 6×6 cm is cut into two (2×4 or 3×6), or two separate pieces are taken; while a branch is split into two. Once the drill holes are clean, you are now ready to play. Rub the sandpaper against the inside of the bamboo to smooth out the inside of the tube. I cut out any of the wood that has flaws like knots, cracks or unsightly blemishes. Attempt to the play the flute, and use the tuner to find the correct notes. Use the small and large files to design detail and curves to the flute. If you want, some metal tubing for the socket/tenon for your flute and a way to fix the metal tube to the wood. Using your rotary tool, sand the edges of the hole to make sure that these are smooth and perfect. The wood is soft and can be marred by the jaws of the vise. Most beginners of flute making will try to construct a North American style flute out of PVC for their first flute. Insert a small drill bit secured with sandpaper around it into each of the seven holes to smooth out any ridges. It has a soft, styrofoam-like pith that you can clean out easily with a sharpened metal rod. Finishing the Pan Pipes Test the sound. This will make sure the air goes only in the blowhole and out the end hole. My G flute can hit about 2 octaves easily and 2.5 octaves if you push it. My D fife can hit 2 octaves. Walter Ben Hunt's Plans. Don't let the prices fool you, as I stand behind every flute I make. To finish, the flute is oiled inside and out to protect the wood from over drying and to bring out it's beauty. After drilling, go back and reinsert the drill bit into each hole while holding it with a pair of pliers. Keep the wood in the vice to begin the hollowing process. In making a flute, you need the best kind of wood and basic woodworking instruments. This is usually marked by circular ridges that may seem like joints in bamboo. It brings together the amazing qualities of these precious materials and invites the player to individually blend them. Select the key you want to play in because this will affect the length of the flute. Soak the flute in warm water for a half hour to moisten the wood and to keep it intact when you drill the holes. Source: http://www.bailiffafrica.org/diy-bamboo-flute/. Clamp the bamboo down and drill the embouchure. to make the different key Love flutes . Glue a small piece of cork slightly smaller in circumference to the cap, and insert that into one of the hollow sides of the flute. The first flutes were carved from materials such as wood and ivory. Although a great deal of expertise is required to make an Irish flute from wood, it is relatively simple and fun to create an Irish flute from PVC pipe. This will be the first finger hole. Remove the branches, sand down any notches. Add Tip Ask Question Comment Download. How about the most common wooden musical wind instrument: a flute? Be careful to smooth the edges as much as you can inside the wood to create the hollow appearance of a flute. Carve a round top about a 1/2 inch tall and 3/4 inch in diameter. Before you put your pipes together, first make sure that the … Add Tip Ask Question Comment Download. The ideal is to have a stock of wood cut or bought by a far-sighted parent. Making the first cut for the notch. Drill in larger bits then slowly increase to the larger bits. Choose bamboo with a diameter between 3/4 inches and 7/8 inches. Cut outside of the node and not into it. Sometimes a flute can be made out of one piece of wood. Hallowing out the bore interior of each half is where the flute carving begins, Let it dry. Look for thin-walled bamboo about 1/8 inch-thick or which is known to produce the best sound. A wooden headjoint on a metal flute is a fascinating combination and a real compliment to a lot of the flute's repertoire. Do this to hollow out the middle. Choose the node that will become the cork and measure 2 cm out from the node and mark it using a pencil. We have countless videos on the subject of Native American Flute Making and after 31 years of making flutes I even wrote a book about it! Because it is probably the easiest flute to make out of wood without using a workshop full of tools. Always practice extreme caution when using sharp instrument, open flames and power tools, Copyright 2021 Leaf Group Ltd. All Rights Reserved. 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