Thread: Turning a flute- What Aussie woods?

There may be some info here
and blow is only a figure of speech

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 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.

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Originally Posted by NeilS

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 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.

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Thanks. Wonder if apple wood would be good.

Oh! Having now skimmed the artical, I know where I can get some Tulip wood. 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. )

Originally Posted by tea lady

Wonder if apple wood would be good.

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.

Originally Posted by tea lady

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. )

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.

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Originally Posted by NeilS

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.

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

I'm sure Brendon will turn up soon.

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.

anne-marie, pm me, can be of help with blanks.

Originally Posted by Ed Reiss

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. So ya never know.. You might get a PM eventually.

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 ,

I used to play the clarinet. My good one was made of ebony.

Originally Posted by rsser

I used to play the clarinet. My good one was made of ebony.

Might wait for a while before I tackle an ebony one.

Cheap Asian ones are made of bamboo. Already round ;-}

cheap asian ones are made of bamboo. Already round ;-}

:u