Chiff and Fipple Forums

I recently bought a flute from Doug Tipple, which I'm extremely happy with, but I found that keeping the tuning slide at exactly 7mm every time I assemble the flute was annoying, so I came up with a solution. A 7mm 'tuning ring' which fits over the tuning slide and keeps the flute at concert pitch. I also designed a matching end cap to fit into the hole on the end of the head joint.

These parts are 3D printed with a material called Alumide, which is a hard plastic with metallic flakes embedded in it, which gives the end product a sort of metallic-stony look which I think matches well with Doug's PVC flute. A very modern accessory for a very modern traditional flute!

If you've got a Tipple flute and you'd like your own tuning ring and end cap, you can order them by clicking here. They're available in a variety of colored plastics and even metals such as brass, steel or silver.

Here's the original flute, note the beautiful, wood-like finish. The end of the head joint is open, with a cork pushed inside.


The flute plays at concert pitch (with a usual embouchure) with the tuning slide opened 7mm.


Here are the custom parts I designed.


The parts grip the flute in only 4 locations. They require no adhesive and slide snugly into place and won't fall out or rattle.


The head joint with the new parts fitted.






This material has a very pleasant metallic/stone appearance, which I think complements the finish on the Tipple flute.




Thanks to Doug for providing me with very accurate measurements of his flutes so that I could make these accessories.

If you don't mind my asking ... what type of printer are you using?

You might also consider a matching internal tuning ring to fill the gap inside the bore left by extending the slide 7mm. It would not be seen but would be heard (or not heard).

Feadoggie

It looks nice, Conor. Those a really nice photos of my flute.
If you can make these parts, then it wouldn't be difficult to make a complete
flute, although I'm not sure how long it would take or what the material
expenses would be.

We are having a cold spell here, and I suppose you are having a heat wave down under.

oh god it's cold in St. Louis. Nice work on that flute.

Feadoggie - these parts are printed by Shapeways, so the printer is probably something like this:


The kind of printer used varies with the material you choose though.
An internal ring is an interesting idea. I don't think the gap causes any problems though, as it's there anyway when you slide the head out, and there's already a wedge in there which disrupts the airflow more than the gap would. http://tippleflutes.com/the-tipple-fajardo-wedge/

Doug - you could indeed print an entire flute, and I've seen a 3D printed recorder at a trade show recently (it played horribly, the last two holes weren't fully opened). But the cost would be high as 3D printing is generally charged by volume so large objects are expensive, and there's no discount for printing in bulk. You'd also have to hand finish every item as they don't come out 100% identical. I think your system of obtaining low-cost but very consistent raw materials, and then finishing the instrument by hand is the most cost effective way to make a high quality instrument, and will probably remain so for a long time.

The photos are taken with an iPhone. I took them near a window to get nice highlights on the flute and to show off the grain. You should put some high-resolution photos on your website, the small photos you have there don't show off the quality of the finish enough. I'm sure you'd make more sales if people saw close-ups of the finger holes and embouchure cut, and the grain you've sanded into the flutes.

Conor, the 7 mm gap between the headjoint and the flute body is just a suggestion given my personal embouchure on a good day. On a bad day or when another person plays the flute, the gap is bound to be something different than 7 mm. Then again, when you are playing with other people, it is important to be able to tune to them by adjusting the position of the headjoint.

Yes, the 3-D printing machines look expensive. Somehow I am glad that the 3-D printing costs are high, if I may be so selfish.

With regard to the website photos of my flutes, I take them with my 3 MP camera, and then I reduce them a little so that they will load quickly. I don't want to get too fancy with high-resolution photos because then I would likely have more interest in my flutes. I want people to be surprised and pleased when they open the box and find a flute nicer than they expected. As it is right now, I have more than enough orders to keep me as busy as I want to be. Besides I have to shovel snow, wash the dishes, do the laundry, etc. My wife already complains that all I ever do is work on flutes. She made me take a week off to travel last week, something which I really didn't have time to do, right before Christmas, anyway.

I have 3D-printed a fife using Shapeways' "string and flexible" material. It plays OK, but is not terribly exciting. That particular material is somewhat porous and I have been warned that moisture will degrade it over time. I also made a model of a flute I own that I wanted to have 3D printed, but it will cost hundreds of dollars to do so and every time I check my model, I find errors, so I haven't gone through with it yet. Locally, I can have it printed on an Objet printer which is much higher resolution than what I have seen so far from Shapeways.

I've made 3D models of Terry McGee's Bight clip for myself and several others now, also printed by Shapeways. I've used mine for several gigs and it works great. On the other hand, it's taken me almost a year to design some accessories for a mic manufacturer who was impressed with how the bight clip turned out. It takes weeks to get prints from Shapeways so it is a slow process. Designing such a thing can be a real challenge, even if it seems to be simple, so you have my congratulations on the accessories.

My four piece Tipple nearly goes off the Korg at the 7mm setting suggested here. My usual setting at about double that produces an unquivering Korg G and Low D.

Best wishes all ...

K.

Doug - of course, if there was only one 'correct' length then you wouldn't need a tuning slide in the first place
This is just a convenience for me as 90% of the time I'm playing solo and don't need to tune to someone else. Great to hear that you're getting lots of orders!

William - I guess these are you mic clips? https://www.shapeways.com/shops/williamb
They look good, very simple and effective, I imagine they're nice in Black Strong & Flexible.

Keith - that's a huge difference! I found when I was learning to play on the Dixon, it sounded really flat, even with the head joint all the way in, but I think it was my strange, beginner's embouchure that was the issue not the flute. I'm trying to adjust my embouchure to play the Tipple at concert pitch with this 7mm gap and it's working well so far.

Hi Conor
I'm not that far from you and I have a tipple flute I love too. Doug's flutes are definitely worth doing up. I was wondering if you can do these fittings in something resembling an ivory colour? If Doug is reading this is the bore for the D flute the same as the B or different?
Cheers, John

Hi John,

You can order them in a variety of colors and metals by clicking here:

http://www.shapeways.com/model/1534705/ ... erialId=66#

Ivory-colored isn't one of the available options, however you could try Polished White Strong & Flexible and then painting it with Acrylic paints. The plastic is quite porous and it holds paint well. Here's a video of painting a model printed with White Strong & Flexible. https://vine.co/v/hwKqPO9wWhD

The Polished Alumide material which you see in the photos here is a little harder and smoother than White Strong & Flexible.

I think it would look more complete with two more rings on the end-joint...

monoRAIL wrote:William - I guess these are you mic clips? https://www.shapeways.com/shops/williamb
They look good, very simple and effective, I imagine they're nice in Black Strong & Flexible.

Yes, that's them. I printed one in that material and one in polished white strong & flexible. That one is smoother but I have been using the black one. I worried that it might scratch the wood, but I've used it several times now with no wear evident on either the flute or the clip.

Hi Conor
I went to your order page. Its giving Australian postage as $19.99 and postage to USA as $6.50. Somethings gotta be wrong here as you live in Australia. Cheers, John

John, unfortunately that's not a mistake, I wish it was! Shapeways printing facilities are based in Europe and the US, so no matter where the designer is, that's where the models are printed and shipped from. It's $20 shipping to Australia whether you order hundreds of parts or just one, they're all shipped in large padded boxes, even tiny single items.

I've asked them about alternative shipping arrangements and they say they're looking into it. Despite these exorbitant shipping costs they're still cheaper than getting items printed in Australia. 3Dsystems.com are based in Melbourne, I contacted them for a quote on printing this item and they quoted $300 each! Their justification for this price is that they're catering to engineering and design clients who need guaranteed next day delivery, unlike shapeways who are catering to consumers who are willing to wait a couple of weeks for a model to be printed.