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View Full Version : Turning a flute- What Aussie woods?



tea lady
3rd May 2010, 03:59 PM
I found an old fine woodworking artical about turning a wooden flute. Says its kinda tricky. Always one to rush in where fools fear to tread, what ausie woods do you think would be good? :think: Being an American artical it doesn't really give any hints. Got some Jarrah off cuts this morning. Do you think that would be good? :U Maybe Murbu would be able to withstand the dribble factor quite well, but aparently you have to get the balance between hardness and tone. Hard means a brittle sound. Suck and see I guess. (Or should that be blow? :hmm: )

watson
3rd May 2010, 04:57 PM
There may be some info here (http://www.woodworkforums.com/f186/)
and blow is only a figure of speech

NeilS
3rd May 2010, 09:17 PM
Brendan Stemp turns recorders. He would be a good source of advice.

He is probably recovering from his You Turn, so may not read the forum for a bit...so, in the interim, here (http://www.lazarsearlymusic.com/Recorder-Woods/recorder_woods.htm) is some overseas info on recorder woods. I have some freshly cut pear that you would be welcome to, but can't imagine how long you would have to wait before it is fully seasoned or what you could do to hurry it up without splitting.

.....

tea lady
3rd May 2010, 11:09 PM
Brendan Stemp turns recorders. He would be a good source of advice.

He is probably recovering from his You Turn, so may not read the forum for a bit...so, in the interim, here (http://www.lazarsearlymusic.com/Recorder-Woods/recorder_woods.htm) is some overseas info on recorder woods. I have some freshly cut pear that you would be welcome to, but can't imagine how long you would have to wait before it is fully seasoned or what you could do to hurry it up without splitting.

.....

Thanks. :think: Wonder if apple wood would be good.:cool:

tea lady
3rd May 2010, 11:17 PM
Oh! Having now skimmed the artical, I know where I can get some Tulip wood. :cool: I've got a bit of that Queen ebony. Would that be good do you reckon? (Although I might make the SECOND one out of that.:rolleyes: )

NeilS
4th May 2010, 12:11 AM
Wonder if apple wood would be good.:cool:

Just guessing here, as I haven't done any of this myself, but speculate that any of the close grained fruit or nut woods would be worth further exploration. Most would be suitable for the precision work required for wind instruments.


I've got a bit of that Queen ebony. Would that be good do you reckon? (Although I might make the SECOND one out of that.:rolleyes: )

If similar to African ebony, should turn very nicely and come up beautifully. Not sure about the tone, but if hard like traditional ebony then I expect it would be quite bright.

Anyway, I'm out of my depth on this, so hopefully Brendan or someone else with more expertise can steer you in the right direction.

.....

tea lady
4th May 2010, 12:30 AM
Anyway, I'm out of my depth on this, so hopefully Brendan or someone else with more expertise can steer you in the right direction.

.....


I'm WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY out of my depth here. :rolleyes: But I heard on the radio that you only improve if you always try to do things that you can't quite do. :cool: I've prolly got too much on the to do list anyway. :rolleyes: So I'll prolly save it for when I have a pressing dead line. :D

I'm sure Brendon will turn up soon. :D

brendan stemp
5th May 2010, 11:11 AM
And here I am without too much to add. I know how to make recorders and finish them but have no experience with different timbers and how they sound. However I suspect that how they sound out of different timbers is going to be noticed more by those with lots of playing experience. What I do know is that I use European Boxwood and American Maple for the recorders. Also Grenadilla and Ebony occasionally. The boxwood was used traditionally to make recorders but is expensive. But beautiful to work with; one of the best timbers I have ever turned. Lots of Aussie timbers could be used including Dead Finish, Buloke, Weeping Myall. The outback timbers seem to be a preference of woodwind instrument makers. Perhaps Olive could be used. It boils down to workability, stability and tone. Stability is important because you don't want it warping. Buloke is very stable. So yes, TL, BLOW N SEE would be a good way to approach it.

Ed Reiss
5th May 2010, 12:31 PM
anne-marie, pm me, can be of help with blanks.

tea lady
5th May 2010, 06:01 PM
anne-marie, pm me, can be of help with blanks.Might just fart around with what I can get for a while before I start shipping wood across the world. :cool: So ya never know.. You might get a PM eventually.:D

SawDustSniffer
5th May 2010, 06:09 PM
a company called "Tasmanian tone woods " sponsors the musical instrument page of this forum , give him message , he has a good range of timber's ,

rsser
5th May 2010, 09:46 PM
I used to play the clarinet. My good one was made of ebony.

tea lady
5th May 2010, 11:08 PM
I used to play the clarinet. My good one was made of ebony.:think: Might wait for a while before I tackle an ebony one.:C

rsser
6th May 2010, 08:35 AM
Cheap Asian ones are made of bamboo. Already round ;-}

hughie
6th May 2010, 09:38 AM
cheap asian ones are made of bamboo. Already round ;-}

:u

TTIT
6th May 2010, 10:14 AM
A bloke from Vic bought some blanks off me a couple of years ago for making flutes. Got some Burdekin Plum, Inland Rosewood, Dead Finish and ........ something else (damned brain cells gone AWOL again :C ). He was that impressed with the Inland Rosewood (acacia rhodoxylon) for flute making that he sent some to his mentor in the UK to try.
He also gave me a Gidgee Penny Whistle he made as a gesture - ( :o that's it! some Gidgee!!!! ). Never have figured out how to play it - but it looks fantastic :B

rsser
6th May 2010, 10:49 AM
At a guess boring out would be a challenge with the denser timbers - partic overheating if the bit isn't really sharp. I've discoloured some desert timber napkin rings this way.

petersemple
6th May 2010, 10:55 AM
There used to be a bloke in NSW making flutes out of Cooktown Ironwood. He also used to sell the blanks. According to him it is hard to turn but great for flutes.

Peter

tea lady
6th May 2010, 11:21 PM
At a guess boring out would be a challenge with the denser timbers - partic overheating if the bit isn't really sharp. I've discoloured some desert timber napkin rings this way.

The artical recommends boring the flute with a shell auger. A gun drill is also mentioned on one of those web sites.:cool: Still needs to be sharp I guess. And the hole needs to be enlarged to get the right tuning. Very scientific apparently, which kinda appeals to me.:cool: Tuning the holes sounds interesting too, cos they have two octaves and doing one thing will effect the octaves in different ways. :D Mine will prolly sound very "modern".:rolleyes:

rsser
7th May 2010, 08:22 AM
Yes, hole spacing would be critical in either octave.

Modern sounds good. Third tones, why not?

tea lady
17th May 2010, 05:36 PM
It says Box Alder on it. Looks pretty dense. Can't really see the grain. Would have trouble telling which way the grain goes, except there is a section with bark on it still. Is that what they mean by "Box"?

tea lady
17th May 2010, 05:52 PM
:doh: No! Not Box.:rolleyes: I googled. :D

Exotic Wood elder (http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/elder.htm)

Acer negundo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_negundo)

Seems it gets a red stain from stress in the tree. Not a fungus. But the bit I have looks completely plain. B&#!

rsser
17th May 2010, 08:39 PM
The stuff I've turned of that was fine grained, not partic dense. Can have red stripes but they vanish with UV and/or oxidation.

tea lady
17th May 2010, 11:16 PM
The stuff I've turned of that was fine grained, not partic dense. Can have red stripes but they vanish with UV and/or oxidation.Apparent;y some red happens where the tree is stressed, an dsome can happen from the fungal infection. The stress red doesn't fade, but the fungus s tress does. :shrug: Mine is all plain though. It seems quite heavy though. Might still be good for practice ones. :think: