Making a PVC whistle

[ricksavery]

Hello, new boy here.
Never played a whistle before but love the sound of the low whistle. Research suggests that a low D is a good place to start and was set to buy one when I came across an article about making one out of PVC pipe. The attraction of making your own instrument from everyday materials appeals both to the skinflint and the craftsman (if that's the right term)in me, so I thought I'd give it a go.
I have bought a length of PVC pipe from local builders merchant (B & Q in the UK) which is 21.5mm outside diameter (according to them). Not sure what the internal bore is but the walls look to be about 1.5mm thick. Before I start I just wanted to check whether this pipe is suitable to make a low D whistle from. Don't want to start only to find it's impossible from the outset!
Any tips / advice would be greatly appreciated, especially as I assume this is a topic that has come up before and regulars may well be sick of by now.
Thanks for your help
Rick

[Mr.Gumby]

You'll be well on your way if you follow this : : How to make a PVC whistle

[brewerpaul]

Sometimes a low D can be difficult for a beginner due to the large finger reach and the somewhat delicate breath requirements. You might want to try a mezzo A or G whistle first. You'll be glad to have those later on, and they're a bit easier to play and still have a fairly low sound.

[Tunborough]

Sounds like you have a hunk of nominal 3/4" PVC pipe. Should work grand for a low D, provided you have 70 cm or more. (Ideally, twice that so you can make a couple of attempts at it.) I have a nice alto A in front of me made with that material, and Guido Gonzato's instructions that Mr. G. has kindly provided a link to. I'd agree with Paul that you might want to start with an A or G. The A was a bit of a stretch when I first started playing it but it's no problem now. And I really haven't felt the need to go lower than that.

You'll want a short bit of 3/4" dowel from which to make the fipple.

Good luck.

[irishmuse]

Hi Rick. Welcome to the forum. If you search for a couple of threads on the board you'll find discussion on the topic and some measurements I posted for an alto A whistle made from the thinner 20mm black electrical conduit they sold at B&Q a couple of years ago.

The wider black pipe ( which is maybe what you have?) I used for a set in D,Eb and F. There are a few pictures in those posts as well.If you want and to save you time I can post the measurements for those. Oddly enough I was looking at them yesterday with a view to making a "one head to rule them all, several bodies set" as I bought a set of the connectors they sell too, with a view to using them as a wraparound headpiece. (That idea didn't work BTW, too much faffing around.)

The black conduit stuff, if that's what you have makes a nice whistle. It's rigid and relatively easy to work. It's slightly narrower in the bore than the stuff I started with in Australia and the white European pipe so the Gonzato measurements needed a bit of tweaking.

As I say, I can give you the measurements if you want, no need to reinvent the wheel and all that. Just confirm you have the black stuff.

The relevant thread topics are:

"advice re DIY whistle material" and "Making Alto Whistles Lately"

There are a few other threads on this board with advice about materials, links to brass tubes for bodies, using aluminium etc.

Let us know how you go.

Best regards, irishmuse

[irishmuse]

Me again,
Dug out that black pipe from B&Q I made the low D from today. It was labelled Heavy Gauge Black Electrical Conduit 25mm OD. I bought it in a 2m length and cut it up to fit my suitcase. On reflection it sounds like you have the pipe best used for Alto size whistles, not for the wider bore keys. So it probably won't be suitable to get you down to low D. As Brewerpaul pointed out you might be easier with the altos anyway (he's a pro maker and knows his stuff).

Another great resource is Hans Bracker's website. In his musical musings section he has a calculator for making whistles in different keys and a discussion about optimal bore sizes. You know of course you'll be cheaper in the long run just to buy one from him or get one off Ebay after you buy all the drillbits, hacksaw, mitre block, facemask,digital tuner etc.etc. Then you'll want a mini-lathe because you can't find the right size dowel to make fipple blocks, oh and some nice black delrin too. Not to mention your mental health and family problems if you take up whistlemaking as a hobby. ( To paraphrase Ry Cooder that's the way it turned out for me).

Seriously though if you want to have a go, and it's that 20mm pipe you have try those measurements I left for that Alto A. The 20mm pipe also gave me a C&Bb (tho you can just buy Generations in those keys), and a G. Total expenditure including return flights to the UK less than 5 thousand quid. You can't say fairer than that.

[brewerpaul]

In the instructions Guido states "So, I assume that using PVC for whistles is pretty safe. Besides, all PVC, ABS and in general plastic whistles on the market don't ship with a health certificate, do they? "

PVC is inert so actual toxicity isn't a problem. However, it's so stable that if it gets into your lungs it'll stay there forever. Wear a good dust mask when you work with this material. For sandpaper, use the black automotive wet/dry type and use it wet with plenty of water. This will control the dust and also make for a really nice smooth surface. It comes in grits 'way down into the thousands.

[ricksavery]

Thanks for all the replies.

Mr Gumby - That's the article I have, thanks for that, it looks informative and interesting.

brewerpaul - I'm sure you are right. I will still have a go at making the low D for it's own sake, then probably follow your advice and learn on one of those you mention, thanks for the advice

Tunborough - I have changed the pipe for a length of 25mm OD so as to be able to follow advice/ measurements more closely from the article Mr G mentioned. Thanks

irishmuse - thanks for your reply. I have changed the pipe for some black 25mm OD - exactly what you describe. Good to know that someone has made the whistle I want to make from the same stuff. And it only cost slightly less than 5 grand

Again, thanks all for the helpful advice and warm welcome. I have no doubt I will be asking for more advice when I get into inevitable difficulties!

[irishmuse]

Hi Rick,
I promised you the measurements for that Low D I made from the black conduit. It might also be a useful start point for any other B&Q pipe repurposers out there.
The overall length was 580mm
I used a 30mm Head
Window 12mm Wide by 10mm High

The Guido Gonzato schematics use measurements from the blade edge to the hole centre. These came out@
#1 (top hole) 242mm@7.5mm
#2 278mm @10mm
#3 317mm@10mm
#4 372mm@7.5mm
#5 404mm@11mm
#6 (bottom hole) 445@9mm

You might have to tweak a fraction of a mm here or there as you tune. My best investment was a set of conical step drills on special offer at Bunnings (Australia's B&Q equivalent). They let you step up in fractions of a mm and can be put into a hand-drill or drill press. They also clean out some of the swarf inside the hole.

Happy whistlemaking. irishmuse

[DrPhill]

Or to work offline: https://sourceforge.net/projects/twjcalc/

[trill]

PVC is inert so actual toxicity isn't a problem. However, it's so stable that if it gets into your lungs it'll stay there forever. Wear a good dust mask when you work with this material. For sandpaper, use the black automotive wet/dry type and use it wet with plenty of water. This will control the dust and also make for a really nice smooth surface. It comes in grits 'way down into the thousands.

Ditto

Also, when I got into building a Low D out of PVC, I found that a drill set in very small (1/64") increments very useful.

Happy whistlesmithing !

[iskandar taib]

Guido suggests using scissors for enlarging the holes. I was skeptical until I tried it. A pair of scissors really does work well on PVC! Go slowly.

I just bought one of these:



https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Knife-U ... 97631.html

for the purpose of cutting/enlarging holes. Apparently they are used for making/enlarging holes in stiff plastic sheet - RC model car people use them to modify lexan body shells. Doesn't work, as the nose comes up against the back wall of the tube. What I plan to do is hack off the first cm or so off the tip (cutting wheel on a Dremel tool should work). It should work after that.

Still looking for 1/2" i.d. PVC pipe. Haven't found any yet, though I did find some electrical conduit that's more like 11mm i.d. - probably too small for a whistle (though it might make a good dog whistle). I'm considering other materials - lexan tubing is fairly cheap, plexiglass way too expensive. Both would look cool (they're transparent) but not that easily available around here (no McMaster Carr equivalent). Acetate tube (i.e. the material they use for mailing tubes) might be worth a try, too, if I could find it small enough. I COULD use metal, but not yet. The other big annoyance is finding dowel that will fit with no (or minimal) sanding. I've also been considering 3D printing (but someone's beaten me to it:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=101473

My latest experiment is using a Fajardo type wedge to get around the upper-octave-is-flat problem. It does work, but needs some experimentation (first attempt was too extreme - now the upper register is sharp!).

Iskandar

[highwood]

The other big annoyance is finding dowel that will fit with no (or minimal) sanding

This problem is simple to solve - just buy a lathe.
You know you want to and the sooner you do it the fewer your regrets will be once you do buy one and wonder why you waited for half your life before doing it!!

[brewerpaul]

The other big annoyance is finding dowel that will fit with no (or minimal) sanding

This problem is simple to solve - just buy a lathe.
You know you want to and the sooner you do it the fewer your regrets will be once you do buy one and wonder why you waited for half your life before doing it!!

A lathe would work for fitting fipples (I use one) but if that's all you're going to use it for it's too expensive. A more overall useful tool would be an inexpensive drill press. Cut the dowel an inch too long and chuck it in the drill press then use sandpaper to reduce the diameter gradually. Harbor Freight has a suitable one for $65.
You can also use an electric hand drill for this and it's really useful around the house.

[iskandar taib]

Yes, I do have a full size, bench-height drill press, but I don't think the chuck goes beyond 13mm. A friend is getting a 3D printer, and I plan to get one too a couple months down the pike, so I might PRINT the dowel blocks! Make them hollow, even, and include a wedge... I'm also learning 123D Design (installed a copy before Autodesk decided to pull the whole 123D package early this month... grrr.. ) and might start printing out entire fipple blocks. Right now the lack of small diameter tubing is the most acute pain.. the smallest I can find in most shops is the equivalent of 1/2" schedule A. 1/2" is 12.7mm, but the pipe's actually designated 15mm - and is actually 17mm i.d.! There is the tiny 10.8mm bore stuff that I found in one shop, tried making a D whistle out of that but ended up with 1/8" diameter holes and it sounds anemic.

Iskandar