How to make a simple Irish flute from PVC

[Doug_Tipple]

On my personal webpage I have posted two files that may be of interest to members of the Chiff and Fipple Irish flute community. One is my flute buyer's guide. The other file gives instructions on how to make a simple, 6-hole Irish flute from PVC. While I understand that my views on either of these subjects are not definitive, I hope that they may be found useful, at least for a point of departure or to elicit discussion. Best wishes, Doug Tipple

<http://home.earthlink.net/~life2all/dougswebspace/>

[Denny]

While I understand that my views on either of these subjects are not definitive,

Yeah, but you make a darn nice PVC flute!

Congratulations on getting the web site up.
You might want to add it to your profile.

Denny

[Berti66]

that is GREAT doug, you share your experiences with us at CF!
was a very interesting read about how your flutes are "born"

greetings
berti

and now, when will the mailman arrive with mine this week

[djm]

Doug, perhaps you can answer a question I've had about PVC instruments. Have you (or any other maker) looked into off-gassing of VOCs from these things? Are there certain types of PVC that are safe, i.e. things that one must look for when buying PVC stock?

Thx,

djm

[Doug_Tipple]

With regard to the off-gassing of VOCs (volitile organic compounds) from PVC, I am not aware of any scientific data regarding this subject. However, I personally have mulitiple chemical sensitivity and am very sensitive to VOCs in the environment. In the eight years that I have been working with PVC (cutting, filing, sanding, etc.) I have never experienced any difficulty with breathing or allergic sensitivity to my hands. However, CPVC, which has additional chlorine in the compound, is a different matter. I am not able to work with CPVC without my hands itching. I don't have a good feeling about it, and I have stopped working with it.

I see that I didn't give the URL of my webspace as a clickable link on my original posting. I have it at my profile, but let me try again to give it below. Happy fluting, Robert Doug Tipple

<http://home.earthlink.net/~life2all/dougswebspace>

[djm]

Doug, to make your link work from the forum you must remove the angle brackets. The forum works in simple HTML so something like this should work:

http://home.earthlink.net/~life2all/dougswebspace

[John S]

Hi Doug, nice article.
PVC here in the UK seems to use different colour conventions the grey stuff is used for Drain pipes and waste-water pipes and white for drinking water, also conduite comes in black and white and is some other more crystaline polimer possibley ABS.
ABS is also availible food industry permitted standerd, but I've not yet got round to using it yet.
TTFN
John S

[djm]

There seems to be different ratings for PVC pipes. I can't speak for the UK, but here there is a rating ssytem called a "Schedule". Schedule 40 refers to PVC piping that is considered safe for human drinking water, i.e. it doesn't dissolve or give off toxic chemicals into the water in dangerous quantities. The colour is immaterial.

There is a book out on making musical instruments from PVC by John Edfors, available from Shark - oops - Lark in the Morning. Is anyone familiar with this? Is it worth getting?

Thx,

djm

[Doug_Tipple]

Hi everyone,

I am not an authority on PVC pipe, but I will share what I think I know. With regard to standards for PVC, all materials in the USA must meet rigid standards written by the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM). I used to be the laboratory supervisor for a company that made materials for the aerospace industry. I remember having large books of ASTM specifications that I had to refer to when testing materials. With the PVC pipe that you buy in the store, each piece will be stamped with an ASTM number that pertains to its suitability for a certain application (heat resistance, dimension tolerances, pressures, etc.) The buyers of the store make sure that the pipe is suitable for the intended use.

The PVC that you will find in the plumbing section of a hardware store will be available in different diameters (1/2”, ¾”, 1”, etc.). In addition there may be a schedule number that pertains to the wall thickness of the pipe. The store where I shop has thin-wall PVC tubing with no schedule number, schedule 40 pipe, and schedule 80 pipe. Schedule 40 pipe has a suitable wall thickness for cold water plumbing (CPVC is used for hot water). Schedule 40 is too thin-walled to be threaded and is for socket fittings only. Schedule 80 pipe is heavier pipe, thick-walled enough to be threaded and can be used for higher pressure applications.

Like I mentioned before, the pipe that I use to make low D PVC flutes is ¾” schedule 40 pipe. It has an internal diameter of 21mm and a wall thickness of about 3mm. This is enough thickness to cut a very good embouchure without having to use a lip plate, as is used on thinner-walled pipe. This pipe is suitable for flutes tuned in low D, Eb, and F. If you try to make a G flute with the ¾” piping, you will find that the top part of the second octave will begin to fall out. The next size of schedule 40 piping that is smaller in diameter is ½”, and unfortunately this is too small to make a good sounding G flute throughout a two octave range. What I am using presently for my small G flutes is ½” thin-wall tubing, and because of the thinner wall, it has a larger internal diameter that is quite suited for a G flute. However, the flute will play better if a lip plate is added to increase the chimney depth of the embouchure. Since I have to make a lip plate anyway, I go ahead and make a snap-on lip plate that can be adjusted over a slotted opening to make a tunable flute.

So I mention in the above paragraph one of the problems of trying to use off-the-shelf piping for making flutes: you have to choose from what is available. That is one of the advantages of machining the bore of a flute from solid stock: you can make it exactly the size and shape (cylindrical or conical) that you want. However, this requires a big floor lathe, specialized tooling, and a lot of experience.

Best wishes and happy fluting,
Robert Doug Tipple

[djm]

Thanks for the clarification. It seems I was given a bumsteer, but this was from an aquarium forum. I was told the "Schedule 40" rating was what designated it safe.

Thx,

djm