I made a Flute

[benhall.1]

If Anyone is interested I will post an update.

Yes please!

[accordionstu]

Ok so the wood arrived today, I've left the Mopane and Blackwood to one side and started on the Boxwood. It turns really well with very small chippings coming off and very smooth finish before I even polished it. So far I've only manged to make a body which I've attached a pic of, I hope to get some time tomorrow to make a head but I fear I may have to use a metal socket to take the tenon as I don't have a drill bit big enough to bore this.

I've tried playing it with the metal head and the jury is out. I think it will sound much better with a wooden head.

[accordionstu]

I made a few errors when working on the head joint and couldn't believe the amount of waste chippings from the piece of Boxwood when I finally had my two pieces ready. I initially made a crown from Aluminium but when polishing it up, the aluminium bled into the boxwood and made it look dirty so I made a crown from some of the remaining Boxwood. The ring on the bottom is off an old Bb flute but I will fit three rings soon.

I'm pretty happy overall with the sound, I have started to uploaded a clip to my Youtube account and it will be available at the following link shortly. https://www.youtube.com/user/AccordionStu/videos


If anyone has any tips on finishing Boxwood, sealants waxes etc, I'd be really interested.

[benhall.1]

That looks lovely. I especially like the crown. I'll have a listen in a bit ...

... I've listened. Nice. It sounds as if there's more potential to be got out of the upper octave - is that getting used to it or do you think the flute itself needs to kind of 'mature'? I know nothing about making these instruments, so this is just guesswork on my part, and genuine interest. I really like the tone, by the way.

[accordionstu]

Cheers Ben, When the flute warms up it will reach high G comfortably, but also the bottom D is very strong and it cuts through jigs and reels easily enough. the highest note on this particular tune was high E and the first time I played it I was conscious that I only lifted my right ring finger off the D hole slightly so it wasn't as clear but you can hear it the second time around fine.

The walls are very thin, thinner than I had originally planned and I am not sure how this alters the tone or timbre of the instrument but I have already changed the method I will use for the Mopane version of this flute, I will make it much thicker. If it doesn't sound good, I can always turn it down and make it thinner.

I recently started servicing some band flutes (16) for a band from Liverpool so I need to finish these off before I start making the Mopane Flute, hopefully mid December I will have it ready and a Blackwood one for Christmas

I want to fit silver rings to the Blackwood flute and have ordered some inexpensive plain wedding bands but I suspect these may be rounded on the inside and may not be suitable so may just make them from Stainless Steel pipe. I guess I'll keep experimenting until I get something that I'm 100% happy with.

[accordionstu]

Just finished one in Mopane and have posted a pic here, Boyd Flutes http://iob.imgur.com/uYGg/06bHgta4Ry
using my phone, so not sure if the link will work.

Also made a reamer today for a Bb High Pitch flute, based on a Crown AZ at 452Hz. Will attempt to make a keyless one in Delrin first to see how it goes.

[accordionstu]

The Mopane wood is very responsive and I picked up a few tips the other day form a Flute maker regarding undercutting, polishing and finishing off the tone holes and embouchure which seems to make a real difference. I have yet to polish the outside of the flute but I am happy with it, maybe need to make a ring for the tenon as this is where the most stress is likely to be, but I'm 100% happy with the sound.

I only had a small piece of Mopane left to make the crown and because I had bored out the centre I had to use a piece of 12mm delrin to finish it off, which looks pretty effective.



The wood isn't as stable as the Boxwood when machining, but this may just be my method, i experienced a few bigger chips flying off and also had a piece crack slightly, so I'm hoping this is a one-off issue with this particular blank.

I have attached a link to Youtube clip of me going through my progress so far, if anyone is interested. Apologies for the illegible accent thats just how I speak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_Ur1DSQ76Y



Prices at the moment are £50 for the one piece aluminium Flute, £85 for the two-piece and £110 for the two piece wooden flutes. I will be making one in Blackwood next and have ordered more wood. So far I have sold aluminium flutes to France, Italy, USA,England, Ireland and Scotland. Some have posted clips of them playing them which are available on my youtube account above.

I have just had my first order for a Mopane flute in Australia and he has ordered an aluminium one too, then this morning I had an order for an aluminium one, which is going to Kentucky. I'd love to get to a point where I could do this full time, hint hint.

[benhall.1]

I haven't listened yet, so apologies if you've already explained this ... but is that an adjustable stopper there? And is that metal for the screw?

[CrimsonTone]

Looking & Sounding well Stu , Good Luck Mate

[accordionstu]

I haven't listened yet, so apologies if you've already explained this ... but is that an adjustable stopper there? And is that metal for the screw?

Yes Ben, it is adjustable, this one is made from Delrin set into a ring of the Mopane. It was too long so hs been cut down slightly. If you twist the stopper (Crown) clockwise it moves the head cork back, which gives you very solid and loud bottom D note, moving it clockwise will sharpen the high F# and High G notes bringing them into tune for Fife tunes if required.
I have just sold this one to someone from this forum and I am making another one in Mopane for myself.

Looking & Sounding well Stu , Good Luck Mate

Cheers Crimson

[benhall.1]

It looks excellent work, Stu. And I'm really impressed by the sound as well. I always think flutes should have adjustable stoppers, but it seems such a hard thing to achieve.

[accordionstu]

Yes Ben, It makes all the difference and only takes about an hour to make, but its the little things that make all the difference.
An update on the flute making, I made one in Blackwood but I suspect it hadn't been dry enough as the chippings that came from the bore was thick and sludgy like tarmac. I have a feeling it was wet inside and is likely to warp now that it is being stored in my home, around 20 celcius.

I will buy more wood but despite how the seller describes it as kiln dried or air dried, I will dry my own stock and use this when ready, I'm starting to realise why flute makers have a waiting list for flutes, the wood needs to be pretty dry and stable to take the stresses of machining and hopefully maintain its shape.
In the short term I will continue to offer flutes made from Aluminium and Delrin as I can make these quickly to order from my existing stock and will wait until I have a stock of dry wood before i offer any wooden flutes for sale. It will give me time to improve my technique although I am happy with the design and will keep this style.

Blackwood


Delrin

[an seanduine]

Hammy Hamilton follows a fairly standard 'industry' practice. First he roughs out the blanks to size and then bores a narrow pilot hole. Each blank is then weighed and tagged and set aside. The blanks are periodically weighed, and when they no longer register changes (this may take a year, maybe more) then they are deemed ready to rough bore. Then back to the drying bins for further monitoring.
Good Luck.
Bob

[accordionstu]

Ok so I've moved on a little bit since I last posted. Sales of the Aluminium flutes have slowed down and I have sold a few Delrin flutes in D. I took on some repairs for flute bands and have been very busy with this so instead of buying the missus more shoes, I treated myself to a wood turning lathe. Wow, this has taken so much time out of turning the wood blanks from squares to rounds. On the engineering lathe it could take an hour plus to get an inch round down to 20mm round, now it takes me only 5 minutes as I'm using a gouge chisel which takes loads of wood off quickly.

The hardwood does tend to blunt the chisels and tooling but the chisels are easy enough to sharpen. I've also changed my design slightly, in favour of a more traditional "Improved London" flute head joint style , I'm sure there is someone out there who knows what this style is called but unfortunately I don't.

Here's a couple of Photos of the new flutes. Instead of buying brass tubing for the collars I'm trying to use old Shotgun cartridges, which doesn't look too bad. Anyway I'll post an update when there's more to say.

This flute is made from Bocote and aluminium.


This one is made from Laburnum and a Bog Oak crown


This is from Delrin