Tuning This is where we get more “mathy”. (Mathsy for us Brits đ ). There are a number of ways to work out where the holes go on a flute, and that’s just for “Minor Pentatonic”. There’s the “Flutomat” at Flutopedia; there’s an Excel Spreadsheet by Bob Grealish, also on Flutopedia; and there’s a nice “rule of Thumb” […]
Archive | Making Flutes
RSS feed for this section8 – Initial Finishing
So – having done the basic shaping, what we now have is a flute-shaped tube with a gaping hole in the front surface; it is rough, unpolished and has no playing holes. The next parts could be done in either order – it doesn’t really matter… but I prefer to do the initial sanding now, […]
7 – Testing, Shaping and Final Key Selection.
Remove From the Clamps and Test Loosen your clamp from the centre outwards if possible (depends on how you’ve clamped). Do it nice and slowly and listen for any telltale “click” sounds from the joint (there should not be any). If you’re using a clamp like mine, then slide the flute carefully out from between […]
6 – Cutting the True Sound Hole; and gluing up.
OK now it starts to get finicky, and you have the maximum potential for making a stick with holes in, as opposed to a flute. At every stage here you have to be ultra careful and use gentle taps on chisels, cut little and often, and line up twice, cut once. From the Outside Line […]
5 – Cutting the Ramp & Flue
Finally! Finally we get to the part where we do some cutting! Edge Cuts Clamp the front half of the blank into the vice, with the outside uppermost. Place your 10mm chisel (flat side towards you) at the south end of the “box” – accurately – so that the blade lies along the line, running North […]
4 – Marking and Routing
Everyone I ever spoke to about woodwork says the same thing… measure twice, or three times, and cut once. Never was this more important advice than with flutes – most of the dimensions are critical to good sound. So when you mark, double check your marking before making any kind of cut. Marking Up First thing’s […]
3 – Selecting a Bore and Preparing the âFlute Blank”.
OK so now we actually begin making! But – we need to know what we’re going to make first. This depends on what key we want the flute to be in. The keys are usually referenced with “Middle C” on the piano, also called “C4”. A C4 flute would be an extremely low pitched flute […]
2 – Understanding your flute
So – this cut-away diagram is from the side of the “business end” of your flute… click it for a bigger version. The flute is made by joining two pieces of wood together after shaping them on the inside; that’s where the “join” on the drawing is. Figure 1 shows a static flute which is […]
1 – Stuff you need, and Wood
Before you begin making a flute, there’s a lot of stuff you’ll need, more stuff you’ll find useful, and yet more stuff which just makes life a little easier. Then of course, you’ll need the right wood. Now – it’s true that given a stick and a good knife, you can probably make a pretty […]
How to Make a Native American Style Flute – Series Introduction
As promised, I’m starting my series of posts about making Native style Flutes. Here is the list of posts in the series. 1. Stuff you need, and Wood. 2. Understanding your Flute 3. Selecting a Bore and Preparing the “Flute Blank” 4. Marking and Routing. 5. Cutting the ramp & flue. 6. Cutting the True Sound Hole; […]