I recently finished a DIY copper pipe high D pennywhistle (pictures and recordings below) and wanted to talk about it (not a "for sale" post). The pipe is standard 5/8" copper pipe. I followed this tutorial
https://www.copper.org/consumers/copperhome/DIY/cu_pennywhistle.html. And used this amazing tool for calculating hole diameters
https://www.music.bracker.uk/Music/Whistle-Calculator.html. It is the first whistle I have ever made. I didn't have a drill press, so please forgive the very irregular holes! I noticed that the majority of the tutorial and hence the work goes into crafting the mouthpiece. I had some CAD experience from engineering school, as well as access to 3D printers, so I decided to design and print my own plastic mouthpiece. This saved a lot of time and effort, however, there of course are some inherrant flaws.
Whistle pros: I like the feel of copper and the way it patinas over time, the larger 5/8" diameter is also nice since I have large hands. The whistle is fairly loud. Louder than my Oak and Freeman Bluebird. And tone is pleasant to the ears. It is also decently in tune, though even with my tuneable mouthpiece I dont think it could play well with others.
Whistle cons:
Even after filing the fipple and the windway the whistle is too "breathy". I dont mind it being breathier than my Oak, but I'd like to dial it back a bit. It also requires too much air which makes the second octave very difficult (particularly anything above high G), the PLA mouthpiece is fragile and a seam between the print layers is tarting to open.
So, the problems lie with the mouthpiece. I used a makerbot replicator 2 with PLA filament. Admittedly, not the greatest printer or material. I believe that the mouthpice breathiness would be reduced if I could have it professionally printed so that it comes out very smooth. Secondly, I releaize that the design isn't perfect. The high breath requirement may require me to make the windway smaller.
So these are my questions to all you whistlers/whistle makers/experienced 3D printers: Do yall know of a good 3D printing service where I could order a high quality print of my mouthpiece and have it shipped to me? What material would be economical, smooth, hard, and not toxic for whistle mouthpiece? Resin, ABS(expesnisve)? Do you see any tweaks I could make in the design that might fix some of my issues?
Thanks!
Recordings (I'm still a beginner)
Loch Lomond
https://soundcloud.com/phileejo/loch-lomond-copper-pennywhistleDrunken Sailor
https://soundcloud.com/phileejo/drunken-sailor-copper-pennywhistle



Compared to my Oak D whistle

