Making Whistles out of wood!

NicoMoreno · Post by **NicoMoreno** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 9:24 pm

Ok, I have a rather large question to ask.
Actually several. First of all, besides the actual lathe, what does one require as far as ttols go to make a wood whistle. I know about the reamer, but can't make one myself, so is there a place you can buy them?

What kinds of files/cutting tools are needed to shape the bore?

What kinds of woods are best ( ie most practicable, obtainable and cheap!)

Thanks

Nico

raindog1970 · Post by **raindog1970** » Sat Sep 08, 2001 9:57 pm

I would highly recommend you contacting <a HREF="mailto:glenn@thinweasel.com">Glenn Schultz</a>.
Glenn is a great guy, and he is happy to share information on whistle making.
Who better to learn from than a master of the craft?

MarkB · Post by **MarkB** » Sun Sep 09, 2001 5:38 am

Hi Nico

I agree with Raindog above, find someone in your area that turns wood, even before you start wanting to make whistles.

If you do a search on Google by entering "beginning wood-turning" you will find 177,000 sites. You could limit this by including "Ontario" in the search phrase.

It is best to get hands on experience. I have thought for several years of making a bodhran sticks, not as complicated and inimate as whistle making, but the practicallity of it is the same.

There are also quite a few summer courses availabe on the net, that might interest you as a beginner. Or do as JessieK (see Flute forum post "Going to visit Dave Copley) has done and Raindog advises.

Mark

MarkB · Post by **MarkB** » Sun Sep 09, 2001 5:49 am

Gee I hate that! Just as I hit the submit button to your posting, I remembered that in Fergus there is fine harp maker named Timothy, he might have a connection for you.

You will find contact information for Timothy at the bottom of his home page.

http://www.timothyharps.ca/timothyharpsmain.html

Mark

dcopley · Post by **dcopley** » Sun Sep 09, 2001 6:04 am

You should be able to get enough information to get started from the book "The Amateur Wind Instrument Maker" by Trevor Robinson, which is available from amazon.com. The book has a lot of information on making recorders, which would apply directly to making a wooden whistle. There is also good information on tools required, and details on how to make tapered reamers. If you make a straight bore whistle, you should not need special reamers. Good luck!!

[ This Message was edited by: dcopley on 2001-09-09 08:06 ]

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Sun Sep 09, 2001 8:32 am

I've made a couple of native american style flutes in wood, though not on the lathe. See if there is a Woodcraft store near you ( http://www.woodcraft.com ). Also, talk to Terry of Kokopelli Flutes, he uses the lathe for his flutes. You can say Beth in NY sent you, if he remembers me =)

http://www.kokopelliflutes.com/

Thomas-Hastay · Post by **Thomas-Hastay** » Mon Sep 10, 2001 6:19 pm

There have been many good suggestions given already. This subject has been debated on other sites as well. Here are some more options I would like to suggest.

1)Consider making the whistle "blank" in 2 halves. Use a Router to cut 2 half-grooves in each blank half and then "glue up" the halves with epoxy. Use Shell Reamers or sanding rasps to finish the inner bore to correct diameter. Finish the outer diameter on a lathe or a Router table using a 1/4 round bit on all 4 corners for a cylindrical finished instrument. Maybe leave the outer surface square for easy holding and ease of voicing and tonehole boring.

2)Bore in short body segments(less than 8 inches)and use tennon joints like Recorders. This needs only standard size drill bits or you could get a "Lamp Auger" bit(self centering).

3) Use technique # 1 and glue in thin brass hobbie tubing, in the correct inner bore diameter,between the halves for a pleasing outer wood finish with a rugged, easy to clean, brass inner bore. Brass hobbie tube comes in graded bore diameters,is cheap and tedious inner bore sanding is eliminated. If you buy tubing that is slightly different in size, it can be used as a sliding tennon/tuning joint.

Hope this has helped. Take a look at this site for some more insight.
<a href="http://members.iinet.net.au/~nickl/tools.html">Gary Cook's Tools for Recorder Making</a>

[ This Message was edited by: Thomas-Hastay on 2001-09-10 20:19 ]

garycrosby · Post by **garycrosby** » Mon Sep 10, 2001 7:16 pm

Hey, cool ideas there Thomas-Hastay. If I could add just a bit too that. The kind of epoxy you need for woodworking is slow-setting woodworker's epoxy (~30 minute open time) that boatbuilders and furniture makers use; its different than the "5 minute" epoxy that you find in most hardware stores - Lee Valley ( http://www.leevalley.com) sells it in various quantities if you have trouble finding it locally.

Daniel_Bingamon · Post by **Daniel_Bingamon** » Mon Sep 10, 2001 7:37 pm

One of the methods that Thomas mentioned about using brass tubing inside is commonly used in making small pens, these pen wood pieces could be used with the brass to make high-D whistles.

If go the traditional route, be sure to read up on treating the wood. There are many ways to do this.

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Mon Sep 10, 2001 8:27 pm

I've got those pen tubes, you're talking VERY small. The standard size is roughly 1/4" diameter and just over 2 inches long. You can get brass tubes at any woodworking shop that sells turning materials, such as http://www.woodcraft.com and http://www.pennstateind.com (I don't recommend the latter, poor customer service)

Routing out the two halves is how the larger native american flutes are commonly made. I don't know how the acoustics would change if the interior was lined with brass; it would be an interesting experiment.

Daniel_Bingamon · Post by **Daniel_Bingamon** » Tue Sep 11, 2001 10:28 pm

I'm not sure what a wood whistle with brass linning would sound like. I will say though, that I have built some whistles that have a wood shroud over the copper fipple and it has improved sound tremendously - and I like the way it looks.

Re. Pen Blanks, I bought some recently (I make Pens also) from Packard Woodworking online and was very happy with the materials, the place you mentioned, Pen State Ind., they are also a bit expensive for wood supplies.
You would need sometime wider than the average pen blank size (maybe jumbo pen size) and depending on the whistle design, use two pen blanks for try to find something longer in length.

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Wed Sep 12, 2001 6:29 am

There is a guy in washington/oregon whose ebay id is robertgeeviolins, he sells lots of wood for pens and is extremely nice. I've bought from him twice. I'm sure he could sell you whatever size you needed.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Thu Sep 13, 2001 5:03 am

Pen blanks are usually about 5/8" square, which is cutting it too close for the bore of a D whistle ( typically 1/2"). Also, they are often only about 4-5" long. I make Ds, and the head is about 4.5", body 7", so even 2 pen blanks is too short. Grain won't match either.
Check out http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com
Lots of appropriate stuff, pretty good prices.

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Thu Sep 13, 2001 10:22 am

I forgot to mention on my previous post, that a 1X1X12" piece is good for a D whistle, with not much to spare. You can buy a 2X2X12 and bandsaw it into 4 1x1s too

Thomas-Hastay · Post by **Thomas-Hastay** » Thu Sep 13, 2001 12:59 pm

Thanks for the tip on epoxy Gary.

avanutria mentioned that pen blank brass tubes are too small for whistles. These tubes are small,but if you use the French Flageolet design,sometimes called a "bird whistle",you can make quiet sweet sounding and high pitched whistles.

The trick is in small voicings and toneholes and by placing the center hole of each set of three on the dorsal(back)side to then be used as thumbholes. This allows close spaced toneholes to be seperated on two sides so no "finger bunching" occurs.

Bagpipers take note:
Most bagpipes and reedpipes have bores of between 4mm and 11mm,perfect for pen blank sizes of brass tubing. I've made an obscure type of pipe called a "Scottish Stock and Horn" in this fashion. It has 2 internal drones and one melody pipe all-in-one-tube.

The Idea came from a website plan for a PVC smallpipe with brass tubing as an inner bore and PVC as an outer shell with resin epoxy as a filler between. Many "Sackbutts" and other horns use 2 piece construction as well and are bound with glue and then leather, shrunk to fit,as an outer lining.

Even crude gouges used to cut grooves in each half of a blank could be used if the inner bore is to be lined with brass tubing so expensive tools are not needed. An advanced method of this has been perfected by Monty Levenson of Tai Hei Shakuhachi fame.
<a href="http://shakuhachi.com/">Shakuhachi.com</a>

T. Hastay.

[ This Message was edited by: Thomas-Hastay on 2001-09-13 15:01 ]

[ This Message was edited by: Thomas-Hastay on 2001-09-13 15:03 ]