Well, as some of you may have noticed from the My first DIY whistle thread, I’ve been smitten by the whistlemaking bug. So far I’ve used CPVC hot water pipe and have made two heads (sweet/quiet and breathy/loud) and four bodies (C, D, D+, Eb+). For a first attempt, I am delighted with the results.
A few days ago there was another thread on Glass Whistles. From what I understand, glass is a difficult material to work with, and glass whistles are fragile. I was wondering whether anyone has tried making a see through whistle from clear acrylic or lexan glass. I’ve seen this available as rods and tubes, but wouldn’t know where to look for it out here in the middle of somewhere.
It should be much easier to work than glass and can be polished perfectly smooth where it has been worked. And, it can probably be had in different colours.
Any ideas on what sort of shop/industry to look for this stuff would be welcome too.
PS. I’ve just ordered myself a Dixon Trad, a Sweetone and a Little Black.
I was wondering whether anyone has tried making a see through whistle from clear acrylic or lexan glass.
Acrylic tubes have been used. There was a fellow who sold finished translucent acrylic whistles on eBay in recent years. I believe he posted on this forum as well. This thread tells you a bit about people’s reactions to the clear acrylic.
I have also tried extruded acrylic tubes. I didn’t like it and went back to CPVC. I found the dimensions varied too much for my taste and it scratched/scuffed easily. Keeping the surface covered in tape while working the tube helped some. It does polish nicely(with practice) if you want to put the time into it.
Delrin tube is also available but a bit more expensive thsan acrylic or PVC/CPVC. It makes a good whistle. It is very machinable and polishes to a gloss as well. It can be a bit of a chore to glue if you take that route in your design. I have only found it in the natural/white color locally. I have been boring and turning my own delrin tubes lately though.
There are two general sources for the plastics I have used to make whistles - plumbing/hardware stores and plastics vendors. Now, I realize that you may not have the same access to this as some of the rest of us but ordering via the Internet works. The sources have been discussed here several times and a quick search through the archives should turn up the usual suppliers. Google works too.
Once you have your Dixon whistle, you will likely want to search for that material too. I have heard it called High Density Fiberous Polymer but there are likely other names as well.
Don’t forget to try brass and aluminum as well, maybe with plastic heads. K&S brass is available in sizes just right for high whistle tubes. And aluminum tube is available in every size imaginable. These metals take more " horsepower" to work with but can yield good results and give you a different voice.
CPVC is still my bet for the best, most affordable, most available material to make prototypes.
Several years ago I made whistles with clear 1/2’’ plastic tubing from a pet store that had lots of aquarium supplies. I made the head of cpvc and the tone tube of the clear plastic. I put a very small window in the cpvc head and made the tone tube of the plastic tubing. I still have two of them and like them for lite weight quiet practice at night when all have gone to sleep whistles.
It seems the aquarium makers don’t use 1/2’’ tubing anymore and all I have been able to find is 1’’ clear tubing. A Howard low whistle head might fit on 1’’
I think if I still lived on a boat, I would be making life rings from foam pipe insulation. On a few occasions here on this forum whistles have droped very nice whistles in the water when fishing, never to be found.
I have clear plastic soprano and alto recorders and you’re right: they do get a bit moist.
Most of this is NOT spit: it’s condensed breath moisture. The instruments get pretty foggy looking when you play them, and then condensed moisture accumulates on the surface closest to the floor and eventually drips out.
An instrument built from dark tinted clear acrylic (like is often used for hatches on boats.) would look nice and the moisture would not be so visible. The question is where one would find a source.
An entirely different question to you Paul, and I make no apoligies for hijacking my own thread. I built two different D bodies for my CPVC Low Tech Whistles. One standard D and one D+. I find that there is quite a difference in sound between the two bodies when used on the same head. The D+ is quite a bit more mellow across the whole range, the standard D sounds sweeter, but also has a more “open” character. It requires a bit less air too. It’s like the D+ body is a bit “shy” if you know what I mean and the standard D projects more. Hole positions are nearly the same (for the six top holes), but the standard D ended up with slightly smaller holes. The tube used is the same CPVC hot water pipe.
What has your experience been with the D+ design? Do you do anything different (apart from the length of the tube and extra hole) to make the D+ “sing” more? I’m not asking for any trade secrets here, just curious.
As I mentioned above. This topic comes up frequently on the board, just do a search for suppliers or sources. You can search Google for acrylic tube. You will get lots of hits. And then there is eBay, several suppliers sell acrylic tube there in a variety of sizes and colors. Pet shops were also mentioned above. Actually, once you start down this path, you’ll discover all sorts of sources for tubes - old lawn chairs, shower curtain rods, ski poles (Mack!), bicycle tubing, plastic cothes drying racks, kite spars, arrow shafts, etc. Really there is no end to it. Hmmm - lots of hollow tubes on that Cheoy Lee, I’d reckon.
What has your experience been with the D+ design? Do you do anything different (apart from the length of the tube and extra hole) to make the D+ “sing” more?
I can’t speak for Paul. And of course I have no experience with your specific whistles. That said there are a couple reasons that do come quickly to mind for what you may be observing. One is the “bore to length” ratio which differs between the two. Another, since it is a C+, would be similar to the reason so many D flutes are made with a C foot but without the C and C# keys. You can also search the web for the thinking that supports both of those phenomena. And then… there is the fact that the tuning joint would be placed in a different spot on the overall length of each instrument - could be a nodal harmonic difference. Just some thoughts.
That’s more like it. Just wish I could walk into that place…
Thanks, Tommy
Happy Whistlebuilding
I looked through my stuff today and found a peice of 1/2’’ clear plastic tubing, enough for one whistle. Your welcome to it. Send me a PM with your address. I’m not sure the post office will get it there with lon. & lat.
My D+ whistles are exactly the same length as my C, and the bottom hole is in the same place (and same size) as the bottom hole of a C. All of the D holes are exactly the same as on a normal D. I tried it as an experiment and it worked, so I started offering them for sale.
I don’t know about the physics of the thing, but people seem happy with the results and I am too.
I make a clear whistle, exactly for the “Wow” factor. Kids especially like it, and don’t seem too bothered by the drool factor. It also lets everyone know when the whistle needs cleaning.
Because I don’t anticipate serious players using this whistle a lot, I don’t make it tuneable, but it is in tune with itself. Since the condensation is PURE water (that’s how they make distilled water you know - condensation) when it dries, the whistle is completely clear again, with no residue. So I will pick one up for a quick set and then set it down agan. That get’s the wow going and changes the tone of my whistle for a bit. (I like them for O’Carolans)
BUT, if you get to playing one of those long polka sets that seem to happen from time to time at my session, sometimes you can’t help but get a little saliva in the mouthpiece (I have enough trouble finding places to breathe. never mind swallow) which does find its way into the body. That also is clear and dries clear, but it goof’s up the nice foggy look next time you play and the condensation starts to form. So a quick swab in the kitchen and it’s good to go again.
Thanks for the info Carey. Tommy, who must be an unusually fine and upstanding gentleman has promised to send me some clear pipe, so I’ll soon have a chance to mess around with this design myself.
Meanwhile, I looked at your Every whistles which look similar to the LTW I built last week except for the head to body joint. How’s that done? Do you have a lathe? (A lathe, a lathe, my kingdom for a lathe…)
Yep, a lathe is a wonderful thing. I wasn’t too interested when I had a summer job operating a lathe between college years, but now I’m glad for the experience.
Um, besides the head and tuning joint, what is there?
The markings are put on with a laser. The cpvc burns a nice brown, and the clear stays clear so I fill it with black paint.
A laser, a laser, my kingdom for a laser (and a lathe).
What do you use for the fipple blocks? So far I’ve used wood boiled in candlewax. I’m thinking of moulding fipple plugs in epoxy. However, I recently bought some white epoxy colouring agent (for boat repairs) and the tube has a warning that the contents is poisonous. It doesn’t say whether it’s still poisonous after the epoxy has cured.
The slow curing epoxy I have is not poisonous on it’s own after curing, but that cures as a clear material with a slight yellow tint.
I try to keep all the parts of the whistle edible, at least as far as I can tell. So my fipples are delrin. I buy delrin rods from US Plastics and, dare I say it? work them on the L_ _ _ E. The band saw and drill press also come in quite handy too.
OK, so I have a workshop. Have a look outside your porthole. I’m jealous of THAT!! (I used to own a Tartan 37 we sailed on the Great Lakes, primarilly Erie.) Been to both the V.I.s a number of times bare boating. Nice hang.
When using an acrylic or polycarbonate to make a whistle, the surface can be lightly sanded to give a nice frosted appearance. This masks the condensation a little.
You could probably get that lathe to pay for itself as you anchor up in a harbor and word gets around that you can make a new shaft for the head pump or pin for the tiller!
Thanks for the info Carey. Tommy, who must be an unusually fine and upstanding gentleman has promised to send me some clear pipe, so I’ll soon have a chance to mess around with this design myself.
Happy Whistlebuilding[/quote]
