Generation Bb Question

[Daniel_Bingamon]

Does anyone have the Wall Thickness, Bore ID and tube length of a Generation Bb whistle?
I'm making an Ahava Raba Mode whistle for someone who has a Generation Bb and I don't have enough information on it.

[Feadoggie]

O.D.> = ~.620"
I.D.;Bore = ~.585"
Wall = ~.0175"
Length = 13.125"

Measurements are approximate because I'm measuring a nickel plated Bb Gen and I'm not sure what you would get with a lacquered Bb tube. But it'd be in that neighborhood.

Feadoggie

[MTGuru]

Sure, Daniel ... my nickel and brass are the same*, in inches:

OD 39/64
ID 37/64
Wall 1/32
Length 13 1/8

* My nickel tube is actually shorter. Don't ask.

[Jerry Freeman]

Daniel, PM me your address and I'll send you a reject tweaked Bb whistlehead. You're better off not trying to match numbers, but fitting to an actual whistlehead.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[Jerry Freeman]

Wall thickness = .014 inches (measured with vernier caliper).

O.D. = .610 inches

I.D. = .582 inches

That all should be good to about .001 inches.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[Jerry Freeman]

Stock Generation Bb tube length = 13 1/8 inches (exact)

Best wishes,
Jerry

[Denny]

well, I'm glad they all ended up the same length

[highwood]

I know you already have answers - that made it just more compelling to measure.

old (with dimple) Bb Gen
exactly 13 5/32 (to the nearest 1/128)
OD 0.612"
wall ~ 0.012 (varies where I measure!)
ID 0.588" (also hard to measure - but it agrees with the math for OD minus 2 x wall)

edit:
length measured with vernier calipers
ID/OD/wall with digital calipers - it is better to measure ID with one of those 'dohickey things' (brain drawing a blank on the name) but I didn't feel like going to the shop and digging through the tool box - the other tools and the whistle were sitting next to me!

Bill

[MTGuru]

I'm just curious why you're all measuring in decimal inches? Seems to me the Generations are probably designed and spec'd in fractional inches (i.e. 64ths for the Bb). So the 3-place figures you're getting are just measurement noise or manufacturing tolerances clustering around the actual fractional specs. No?

[Feadoggie]

I'm just curious why you're all measuring in decimal inches? Seems to me the Generations are probably designed and spec'd in fractional inches (i.e. 64ths for the Bb). So the 3-place figures you're getting are just measurement noise or manufacturing tolerances clustering around the actual fractional specs. No?

In my case I used Mitutoyo digital calipers set to read in inches, which read out to three decimal places (it can read to four places). That method is convenient for my general whistle making purposes since my lathe handwheels are calibrated to thousandths of an inch not fractions of an inch.

I admit I was rushing it when I did my measures as I was off to play at a church function and the wife was headed to the car.

And to highwood's point, I don't have proper bore gauges here at the moment but that would be the way to go.

Feadoggie

[Jerry Freeman]

Machine work is done in decimal inches, not fractions.

Telescoping tubing is typically .014 inches wall thickness. That allows diameters in increments of 1/32 inch (.03125) to fit together with .00325 inches tolerance. Tolerance on manufactured brass tubing is typically .002 inches.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[highwood]

I'm just curious why you're all measuring in decimal inches?

Because that's what the calipers measure in, and it is much easier to think, do math, make fewer mistakes in decimal inches.
Fractional digital calipers are made - primarily for wood workers since here in the US of A most tools are still fractional - guess it all that crazy mental fractional math that keeps wood workers sharp! Either that or swearing at something.

When making whistles I tend to use decimal inches for OD/ID/hole sizes because my lathe has inch divisions (and not fractional) and most of my drills etc are in inches. Lengths I could use either inches or mm - calipers and Digital read outs (DRO) on lathe/milling machines read either - but I tend to use mm since I do my calculations in metric and I just like it!

The length of the Bb tube I gave in fractional inches because that is what my calipers read - they also have metric (smallest division 0.05mm) and for my own use I tend to measure length in mm but thought that would just make more work for everyone else. Measuring again I get 334.2mm.

[Feadoggie]

Telescoping tubing is typically .014 inches wall thickness. That allows diameters in increments of 1/32 inch (.03125) to fit together with .00325 inches tolerance. Tolerance on manufactured brass tubing is typically .002 inches.

That's true for one particular line of K&S brass (which many of us use here in the US). Is K&S brass what what Generation is using to make their whistles, Jerry?

Feadoggie

[Daniel_Bingamon]

Thanks everyone

[Jerry Freeman]

Is K&S brass what what Generation is using to make their whistles, Jerry?

Oh, for heaven's sake.

Yes, of course. Generation has all their tubing manufactured in Chicago, has done since the late 1800's. They used to have it brought over by clipper ship.

That's a silly question.

I've gone through all the keys of Generation tubes, and they all measure .014 or .015 inches. As I said, I'm only good to within about .001. I've also had Generation, Feadog and Walton's tubes measured by the company that manufactures the tubing I use for Mellow Dogs, and they came back with .014 or .015 as the measurement for all of them.

Generation G tubes telescope inside Generation F tubes, and Generation F tubes telescope inside Generation Eb/D tubes just like any telescoping tubing you might get at a hobby shop. Generation tubes in the lower keys get bigger by larger than 1/32 increments, so Eb/D tubes don't telescope inside C tubes and C tubes don't telescope inside Bb tubes.

Best wishes,
Jerry