Chiff and Fipple Forums

Been contacted by a chap in Illinois. He has an early Firth Hall & Pond flute that would benefit from a bit of work if someone fancied a "project". The flute appears to be unstained boxwood, with integral wooden turned rings rather than bone, ivory or metal. It comes in four parts, a h...

I’ve seen your metal slide Terry, and it’s definitely an elegant solution. I presume you use a small amount of adhesive to hold things together? Or does friction simply do its part? Just friction and cork compression - I've made cutters for the two ends that just allow for the silver of the slide p...

Yeah, looks good, Tking. Keep in mind that a fully lined head is at risk of cracking if brought to a place with substantially lower humidity than where it was assembled. EG: Alaska or New Mexico (unless you happen to be making them in Alaska or New Mexico!) * Unless you can think of a way to buffer ...

Heh heh, so your version of the "fine grained timbers" we so like to work!

Does it have any impact on density? Interesting to compare the weight of a current whistle and one made with the finer nozzle.

Thanks again for taking us along for the ride, Wanderer, it's been really interesting.

Do get back to us if there are further insights and breakthroughs. We want to be the first to know here, not the last!

I often wonder why there's no such thing as "fipple bagpipes." If attaching multiple reed instruments to a bag works so well, why not attach multiple fipple flutes to a bag? I bet that would sound cool. Heh heh, I've already invented it and displayed it at the Boxwood flute festival in 20...

Or perhaps look through collections of flutes to see if you see any familiar characteristics like key shapes or other visual features.

EG, https://www.mcgee-flutes.com/collection.html

And you might find something here, in terms of holding the flute and blowing it, that might be of help: https://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Getting_th ... k_tone.htm

Hi, Mia

You're going to have to direct us to an image of the instrument (or one like it). Or at least give us a few clues. Eg timber colour, keys colour, how are the keys mounted - on a tube between metal posts, or in wooden blocks, what do the rings look like, etc?

Thanks for that, The Lurking Fear.

Yes, thick walls will make small holes appear smaller. On the plus side, they do offer some scope for angling the holes in the direction they need to go. But maybe they are already angled?

I'd expect that opening up the lower holes would be likely to sharpen the second octave notes faster than the low octave. Ideally you'd need to "move" the holes down the tube, and then make them bigger. You mentioned it's conical. Does it taper all the way down to the foot, or flare out fo...

Rudall & Rose 8.5-key with fully lined original head, #1569, cocus & silver rings, 424 gms, balance point +26mm Rudall & Rose 8.5-key with fully lined Patent Head, #1569, cocus & silver rings, 473 gms, balance point -6.5mm (What's an 8.5-key flute, I hear you ask. All the usual 8 key...

Since you're talking Delrin, Loren, here's one of mine, in two forms: McGee Keyless Prattens flute in Delrin, silver rings, unlined with partial tuning slide, short D foot , 323gms, balance point -26mm McGee Keyless Prattens flute in Delrin, silver rings, unlined with partial tuning slide, long D fo...

Wow, that is exciting, Wanderer. So for example, you could move from cylindrical to a mild taper, with the head a bit bigger than where you had started, and the foot a bit smaller. Or go the other way, insert a small reduction in bore at the top of the tube, if you felt that the thickness of the bod...

Wow, they have come a long way, haven't they.

And I guess, at least in theory, that it should be possible to do tapers and flares and other such tomfoolery, although the maths might get a little frightening. Or am I making too much of that?