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Thread: Didge Making
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11th January 2010, 10:28 AM #16And counting...
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- Feb 2008
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Didge Making
For many years I have tried to hollow out various aged hardwood sticks with a variety of drills, short, long, slow speed, high speed, etc. etc. But in the end could not keep the drill bits centred and only 1 four footer came out ok. I am told it can be done on a specially set up wood lathe by rolling the wood and keeping the drill-bit fixed but have never tried this and the stick must be faily straight for this as well. Have since made didges by cutting suitable sticks in half and gluing them together with PVC glue which works very well. Tried PVC glue mixed with sawdust but did not get any good results. A few things to remember, the size of the hole in the didge combined with the length of the didge will give it the tone B,C,D etc. That is calculated with the formula related to the speed of sound travelling through the didge when you play it. The didge must not have any cracks in it whatsoever because even the smallest hairline will make it more difficult to play and affects the sound. With Australian hardwoods that is not so easy as they crack easily and the ageing process is difficult and lengthy. Woollybut seems to be very popular but I have tried a variety of hard woods and they all work; I prefer ironbark If you are lucky you can get a few sticks dried commercially and then hollow them but that is not cheap. There used to be a timberplace near Riverview close to Ipswich where that could be done but that was a few years ago.You can find this information and lots more on the internet and it will take some time to gather it all together from the various sources but you will be surprised how much is available once you start to search. I never knew there were so many didgeridoo enthusiasts all over the world with a didge club in Alaska as well ! The purists prefer the Australian Eucalypt hardwood above all else since this seems to give the best internal vibrations and therefore the best sound. I am thinking of buying two halves commercial hardwood and shaping that into a 1.2 mtr with a big bell shape at the bottom end for a nice sound. Picked up from the flute builders that the internal sides must be as smooth as possible and will do that this time as well. This is a bit of a challenge and we shall see what comes out of it in the end. All the best.
If you don't know where you are going you will finish up somewhere else.
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12th January 2010, 05:36 PM #17New Member
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- Mar 2008
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- Meadow Springs
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Hi,
There a guy in the UK called Ant Scott that makes split Didjes and they sound and play fantastic. (I know, I have a few) his website is http://www.thenattyshed.co.uk/.
In the past he has always been very helpful with advice and how to make them etc.
Cheers,
Phil.
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