A Whiter Shade of Paul...
- brewerpaul
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A Whiter Shade of Paul...
Not a commercial message, 'cause this one isn't for sale.
Serpent bugged me about making a white Delrin whistle, and went so far as to send me the material. So, I started tinkering and came up with this:
I didn't have the exotic glue required to stick this slippery plastic, so I made everything a pressure fit. The tuning slide is machined right into the body wall. The whole thing is white as the driven snow (and believe me, here in upstate NY, we know all about snow). It only looks gray because I took the pic backlit to show the translucency of the material. All dimensions are the same as my regular wooden whistles, and the sound is very similar. This was a fun and interesting exercise in lathemanship.
Comin'at ya Serpie...
Serpent bugged me about making a white Delrin whistle, and went so far as to send me the material. So, I started tinkering and came up with this:
I didn't have the exotic glue required to stick this slippery plastic, so I made everything a pressure fit. The tuning slide is machined right into the body wall. The whole thing is white as the driven snow (and believe me, here in upstate NY, we know all about snow). It only looks gray because I took the pic backlit to show the translucency of the material. All dimensions are the same as my regular wooden whistles, and the sound is very similar. This was a fun and interesting exercise in lathemanship.
Comin'at ya Serpie...
- Whistlin'Dixie
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- Tell us something.: I've been playing whistle for a very long time, but never seem to get any better than I was about 10 years ago. I'm okay with that. :)
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Me too!I'll take one!
Maybe if they were a bit cheaper than their wooden couterparts, these could become the Busman gateway whistles. You could sell them for a reduced price and get people hooked, then they'd have no choice but to submit to WHOA and get a wooden one later on.
EDIT: Black Delrin would be good!
Last edited by Bretton on Sat Feb 14, 2004 1:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Jerry Freeman
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This is a very good idea, Paul. You could make them in white and black.Bretton wrote:Maybe if they were a bit cheaper than their wooden couterparts, these could become the Busman gateway whistles. You could sell them for a reduced price and get people hooked, then they'd have no choice but to submit to WHOA and get a wooden one later on.
Seems to me, you don't have to deal with the lacquering, making and assembling the metal fittings, waiting for the wood to stabilize, etc. If you can make them in batches and offer them at a significantly lower price point, you could sell a lot of them.
Best wishes,
Jerry
- brewerpaul
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[quote="Seems to me, you don't have to deal with the lacquering, making and assembling the metal fittings, waiting for the wood to stabilize, etc. If you can make them in batches and offer them at a significantly lower price point, you could sell a lot of them.
Best wishes,
Jerry[/quote]
Some parts of this whistle were easier, some tougher than working in wood. I didn't have to use a set of metal fittings, but that meant that I had to individually make that head joint ferrule to a VERY close press-fit tolerance which took quite a bit of time. I actually wanted it a bit smaller in OD, since you can see it is somewhat thicker than the rest of the whistle. I was afraid of losing rigidity if I made it too thin. Not having to undercut and install the metal fittings is also a plus.
The lack of waiting time for wood stabilization is a definite plus. The cost of the Delrin is cheaper than some woods, higher than others. Most of the cost of a higher end whistle is in the labor, and this one took nearly as much as a wooden one. It would be nice if I could start with a stock tubing since a lot of the labor is involved in getting a solid piece turned into a thin walled tube. This is how Glenn Schultz can get away with selling his Water Weasels as reasonably as he does. I'm still experimenting (gotta find SOMETHING to do while the current batch stabilizes for a month or so...)
Best wishes,
Jerry[/quote]
Some parts of this whistle were easier, some tougher than working in wood. I didn't have to use a set of metal fittings, but that meant that I had to individually make that head joint ferrule to a VERY close press-fit tolerance which took quite a bit of time. I actually wanted it a bit smaller in OD, since you can see it is somewhat thicker than the rest of the whistle. I was afraid of losing rigidity if I made it too thin. Not having to undercut and install the metal fittings is also a plus.
The lack of waiting time for wood stabilization is a definite plus. The cost of the Delrin is cheaper than some woods, higher than others. Most of the cost of a higher end whistle is in the labor, and this one took nearly as much as a wooden one. It would be nice if I could start with a stock tubing since a lot of the labor is involved in getting a solid piece turned into a thin walled tube. This is how Glenn Schultz can get away with selling his Water Weasels as reasonably as he does. I'm still experimenting (gotta find SOMETHING to do while the current batch stabilizes for a month or so...)
- Jerry Freeman
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- raindog1970
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Trisha pointed me to <A HREF="http://k-mac-plastics.net/acetal-delrin ... htm">K-Mac Plastics</A> a few months ago when I mentioned that I didn't know of any supplier of Delrin tubes, only solid rod and sheets.brewerpaul wrote:It would be nice if I could start with a stock tubing since a lot of the labor is involved in getting a solid piece turned into a thin walled tube.
Their stock is only available in 5' lengths, and there's a $100 minimum order, but the stuff would be great for making whistles if they do a decent job of keeping their specifications consistent.
I'm having good luck with machining PVC, but Delrin is a much better choice... I use it for my fipple plugs.
My shop isn't set up for large boring operations, so I depend upon the bore of my chosen stock already being good enough without the need for additional machining.
I'd hate to buy $100 worth of Delrin tube only to have it arrive and find out that it has a rough and/or inconsistent bore that needs further machining.
Hopefully you'll check into it and see how good the stuff is, since you have the necessary tooling to refinish the bore if it's necessary.
Regards,
Gary Humphrey
♪♣♫Humphrey Whistles♫♣♪
[Raindogs] The ones you see wanderin' around after a rain. Ones that can't find their way back home. See the rain washes off the scent off all the mail boxes and the lamposts, fire hydrants. – Tom Waits
Gary Humphrey
♪♣♫Humphrey Whistles♫♣♪
[Raindogs] The ones you see wanderin' around after a rain. Ones that can't find their way back home. See the rain washes off the scent off all the mail boxes and the lamposts, fire hydrants. – Tom Waits
- Darwin
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Another source is http://www.mcmaster.com/ Put Delrin in the Find Products box. The specs list inner diameter, outer diameter and tolerances for each.
There doesn't seem to be a minimum order. At least, I got up to the last stage of ordering 8627K57, which is: White Delrin Hollow Rod 5/8" OD X 1/2" ID, 5' length, $9.24 each.
There doesn't seem to be a minimum order. At least, I got up to the last stage of ordering 8627K57, which is: White Delrin Hollow Rod 5/8" OD X 1/2" ID, 5' length, $9.24 each.
Mike Wright
"When an idea is wanting, a word can always be found to take its place."
--Goethe
"When an idea is wanting, a word can always be found to take its place."
--Goethe