Chiff and Fipple Forums

I have seen quite a few homemade fipple flutes and such but I got curious about the transverse flute and was wondering if there was a site showing their construction. Ive trawled YouTube but most of them are foreign or are really bad! I was wondering about the formula for hole placement and size etc as well as tube length.

Google: "simple flute making", AuLoS303.

EG: www.markshep.com/flute/Holes.html

Luc Verhoeven has a site I've found informative:

http://users.skynet.be/fluiten/how.html

Makes post. Realises I dont have any power tools.. Oh well its still interesting to read about...

Don't need power tools. Flute making has been around much longer than harnessed electricity has, by thousands of years. And PVC is actually pretty soft. Tape measure, Swiss Army knife*, saw, and a few hobby files will get the job done. Throw in a bit of sandpaper, a wine cork, and a bit of ingenuity and you're golden.

* or even your wife's kitchen knife, but you didn't hear it from me.

I've cut enough PVC pipe for home plumbing jobs, and have enough miscellaneous hand tools lying around, that I think I could make a cylindrical/PVC flute without power tools if I wanted to. And if I had good instructions. PVC is easy to work with.

I'm not motivated to do that because I already have a nice flute, but if you're interested then go for it! If nothing else, you'll have something that will make a sound, and an increased appreciation of the workmanship that goes into higher-end flutes.

Similarly, it is also easy to make flutes out of bamboo without power-tools.

For me, I hunt for bamboo and use a hand-held hacksaw-blade. I then break out the middle sections with a rod of some sort (rebar etc). I have a special tool that I use for finger holes.



It is a double-headed nail in a block of wood; however, one the of heads gets cut off. I heat this up with a cheap blowtorch from Walmart. The reason the head gets cut off is to start the finger hole using the shaft and check the tuning. You can then adjust the whole up or down the length of the flute and make the whole a decent size using the 2nd head of the nail. (It is easier to show than describe. But maybe you get the idea, or maybe it doesn't matter.)

I do have a power drill, but wouldn't use it for any more than small pilot holes in a whistle or flute. I bought a big set of cheap twist drill bits in 1/64" increments and made a simple clamp handle that I use to turn them by hand. Allows much better control over size and the drilling process.

A pair of skew chisels are nice for whistle windows and embouchure holes, and a straight chisel gives much better control than a saw for removing small amounts off the length.