Whistle making Where will this madness end

drruthless · Post by **drruthless** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 3:49 am

This is a question for those who are familiar with using the Twcalc. When figuring the cork to end length and hole placement does one use the end of the fipple .. or the blade as a starting point for measurements and or vice versa? I know it won’t amount to much more than a few mm’s or so, but being short on materials I would feel a bit more confident knowing the starting point….Der Doktor ist heraus!
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brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:08 am

I'm not too familiar with TWCALC, but you can contact Dan Bingamon who wrote the program and ask your questions. He's a regular here on the board and is a very helpful guy.

Feadoggie · Post by **Feadoggie** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 9:29 am

drruthless wrote:When figuring the cork to end length and hole placement does one use the end of the fipple .. or the blade as a starting point for measurements and or vice versa?

This comes right from the TWCalc Manual:

"18. The length of your tube from the block edge in the fipple window to the bottom will be close to the value in 'Cork to End Length'. This value can vary depending on the shape of the fipple window and will change if the window has walls around it. It is best to fine tune the size of the instrument playing the bottom note before drilling the toneholes."

My experience says to follow the advice in that last sentence. Get the tube length and bell note right first. TWCalc is a very handy tool but some trial and error is to be expected. If you are just that much short on material, make an Eb whistle.

Hope that helps,

Feadoggie

drruthless · Post by **drruthless** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 6:48 am

Oh ..the.. MANUAL….ahh..ummm.a.a.a… Iknewthat….I distinctly remember reminding myself to remember to download the manual…..I forgot. Thanks . You have help me a lot. Funny you should mention Eb whistles…I have a whole drawer full.….but hey.. they’re sounding better. I guess when I make one I like I’ll learn to play it
This madness came about innocently enough about two years ago when I read an article about a homegrown boy who went on to become a Zen master of the Japanese Shakuhachi flute. I went and saw one of his performances, truly mesmerizing is the best way to describe it. I was equally impressed with how much one of those bamboo pop bottles could cost.. Thousands of dollars! The bamboo to make one?. Hundreds… per inch, and I thought, I could make one of those… so I did, with varying degrees of success. I bought so much bamboo, the local garden supply store said they had received a letter from China telling me to knock it off or they would sic a panda on me. So I moved on. I came across Kim Fulton-Bennett’s web page on how to make a penny whistle out of copper pipe. That seemed doable… With little more than a couple of sharpened screw drivers, a hacksaw, files and a metric ruler I preceded to go through about 30 feet of copper.. The fipple was the hardest part. After lurking about the forum for a year or so a new whistle maker introduced me to what I consider the fool proof fipple. Thanks to Guido Gonzato this fool is a happy camper, fipple wise. Not caring for wooden fipples and Delrin seeming pricey to me and having a mini lathe/vertical milling machine, I take old screwdrivers who haven’t seen a good screw in a long while and turn the plastic handles down to size. Seems to work. I’ll use just about anything for the whistle body that I can find.. old ski poles (got that idea from here) the aluminum from old crutches (no longer in use of course..) and stainless steel when I can find it, a bit heavy but I turn it down to about half the wall thickness I want and what comes out is a very crisp and clear sound, but it’s hard as a rock to work with. No real shortage of materials, just a shortage of money… Anyway thanks again for setting me straight. And didn’t mean to go on and on.. Der Doktor ist heraus!
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Daniel_Bingamon · Post by **Daniel_Bingamon** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 5:57 am

I have a new Excel Spreadsheet that is based on Peter Hoekje's spreadsheet for tonehole calculations. It corrects a lot of problems with the current tonehole mathematics that is out there.

1. The tuning. Most Benade formula programs leave the low notes slightly flat and the highest notes are slightly sharp. Ability to adjust the tonehole efficiency to 61.33% instead of 75% solved this problem.

2. Length Formula - This new spreadsheet seems to be the most accurate at length calculations - however I must disclaim that construction practices around the window open influence this spacing a lot. Organ ears on the outside for example will flatten the pitch of the instrument.

3. A table of frequencies is on the one of the tabs for easy reference.

I've had some nice comments on the improved tuning from various customers.

When I get time, all these changes will go into TWCalc.

Send me private message or email and I'll send you the Excel sheet.

If you don't have Excel, you can open it using OpenOffice, a free product from the Linux community and yes there is a Windows Version.

drruthless · Post by **drruthless** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:10 am

Outstanding! Unfortunately I don’t have Excel or the patience to deal with Linux, and my confuser is ( umm .mm...lets see, 9 divided by pie (and don’t forget the ice cream this time ) years + 12 carry the 6 =... aaah ) … OLD. I don’t mind waiting for the updated version of TWCalc. Thanks!!

Daniel_Bingamon · Post by **Daniel_Bingamon** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 7:59 pm

You can download the Excel spreadsheet here: http://www.tinwhistles.us/flute-diatonic.xls

The boxes in yellow are the fields that you modify: starting frequency, hole diameters, wall thickness, bore diameter - in inches. (or override that with centimeters)
It will then give you positions and length information in millimeters (also in inches as well)

Feadoggie · Post by **Feadoggie** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 8:39 pm

Thanks, Daniel.

BEC · Post by **BEC** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:54 pm

drruthless wrote:Outstanding! Unfortunately I don’t have Excel or the patience to deal with Linux, and my confuser is ( umm .mm...lets see, 9 divided by pie (and don’t forget the ice cream this time ) years + 12 carry the 6 =... aaah ) … OLD. I don’t mind waiting for the updated version of TWCalc. Thanks!!

You don't have to have Linux to use OpenOffice. There are Windows and Mac OS X versions as well. Go to openoffice.org.

JordanII · Post by **JordanII** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 4:17 pm

I don't use TWCALC, but I have a suggestion. There is a much easier way to place holes, all you do is get a hole placement percentage chart and cut the whistle until you get the right note (for a D whistle that note would be a D, C would be C, and so on.) Then measure the length from the end of the windway to the end of the whistle and mark the hole positions according to the percentages.

Here is a chart I took from "The 'Low-Tech" whistle guide.

top hole 42-43%
2nd hole 50-51%
3rd hole 58-59%
4th hole 67-68%
5th hole 72-75%
bottom hole 83-84%

Hope that helps.

drruthless · Post by **drruthless** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 11:14 am

Yes, I’ve used that. It works out pretty well. Unfortunately I have this unnerving habit of wanting to split the hairs on a bugs backside... when I have every intention of swatting the critter anyway…..It’s kinda like playing golf, you seek perfection, yet it’s always… just… out… of reach. Tried for fifteen years, finally said to hell with it! Only THEN did I find perfection… golf clubs work great for propping up roses…
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Loren · Post by **Loren** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 8:35 pm

drruthless wrote:This is a question for those who are familiar with using the Twcalc. When figuring the cork to end length and hole placement does one use the end of the fipple .. or the blade as a starting point for measurements and or vice versa?

You're kidding, right???

You just wrote: "When figuring the cork to end length and hole placement......"

Loren

drruthless · Post by **drruthless** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 2:35 am

Yes, of course…However I believe in theory one could measure anything from anywhere, provided you have a beginning and an end in mind. To jump into the middle though, is to invite inaccurate conclusions… Would you disagree Dr.?…Der Doktor ist heraus!
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drruthless · Post by **drruthless** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:04 pm

Loren, I have read good many of your responses and comments on a wide verity of subjects. You are indeed one of the more prolific here at the C&FW forum. So much so that I am reminded of a puppy that scuttles about all day stopping only to piddle when and where it pleases, usually where I was about to just step. I do not intend to engage in a whizzing contest with you. I am sure you are much younger than I and your prostrate has yet to trouble you. However, let me assure you that despite my advanced age I can hold my own in any jousting match, verbal or otherwise. I would bet a new pair of shoes with anyone that I can get my point across very well,… across the tops of ones ankles, or across the end of ones shoes…
Der Doktor ist heraus!
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I am most grateful to you all.

Loren · Post by **Loren** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 5:46 pm

drruthless wrote:Loren, I have read good many of your responses and comments on a wide verity of subjects. You are indeed one of the more prolific here at the C&FW forum. So much so that I am reminded of a puppy that scuttles about all day stopping only to piddle when and where it pleases, usually where I was about to just step. I do not intend to engage in a whizzing contest with you. I am sure you are much younger than I and your prostrate has yet to trouble you. However, let me assure you that despite my advanced age I can hold my own in any jousting match, verbal or otherwise. I would bet a new pair of shoes with anyone that I can get my point across very well,… across the tops of ones ankles, or across the end of ones shoes…
Der Doktor ist heraus!

If only I had a buck for every one of you jokers we've seen come and go over the years......

Loren

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Whistle making Where will this madness end

Whistle making Where will this madness end

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Re: Whistle making Where will this madness end

You're kidding, right???

Re: You're kidding, right???