Earlier this month, I set out to make a custom flute out of a really cool branch I found. This ended up not working out, but it wasn’t all a loss. I never made it to the point of adding finger positions, because the closed flute didn’t have the sound I wanted to start with…thus I decided that an exceptional pipe was a better use for the branch than a mediocre flute. So, while this branch is starting out already hollowed and generally finished, here are the posts that got me to this point:
- Part 1: Splitting the Branch
- Part 2: Hollowing Out and Reassembling the Two Sides
- Part 3: Cleaning the Exterior Surface
- Part 4: Adding the Notch
Option 1: Carved From Stone
This is my favorite idea, but I’m not so sure I have the patience or skill to finish it. Perhaps with a softer stone, but whatever this is, it takes a lot to chip it away.
I can easily see myself getting close to the shape I want and then shattering it.
I’m not necessarily giving up on this idea, but I wanted to take a break to try an alternative option.
Option 2: Molded Concrete
This was originally going to be sculpted concrete. The plan was to work it into shape like clay and let it cure, but that was a tremendous failure.
So while it was still wet, I made this crappy mold from wet polymer clay 🤣
I disassembled the mold to make sure concrete was poured on all sides, then pressed the pieces back together. If this cures at all, whatever comes out of it will surely not be pretty.
I’m not holding out a lot of hope for this idea, but if it works, this could be a faster way to get the basic shape and chamber part done - it would then come down to how easily I can shape it once it’s cured.
About an hour into the drying time, I pulled the sides off of the mold and began to work the shape a little bit. Anything I have to remove or reshape once it’s dry will be a lot harder. I’m not too experienced with concrete, so I don’t know about working time - I’m just going off of whether or not it feels coherent enough to be shaped. In the morning (after 6-7 hours of drying) I may try peeling back the clay even further. I’d love to be able to shape this by hand while it’s wet.
This shaped up not too badly, honestly. There’s still the question of whether or not it will actually have any kind of durability, which I assume will be answered when I go to pull out the clay filling the bowl and the wood in the chamber.
Chances are, it will be difficult to smooth the concrete surface by hand, but my biggest concern is that the part of the chamber that would go into the would could be brittle and break off in there. As with Option 1, I may continue to develop this, but I think I’ve come up with a third option that will be more reliable and better looking than either of my two current options.
Option 3: Get a Stone Bowl from Someone Who Knows What They’re Doing
Bindings
I thought a red and white/beige binding might ties these elements together, so I decided to try dying some twine with the red wood stain I’d previously rejected.
Final Product
I’ve been super busy, only able to work on this in small bursts here and there - so I didn’t take time to photograph the steps like I normally do. There wasn’t much to it, but I packed wood putty around the stone pipe, twisting it in place to avoid pressing it out as the stems docked. I gave that time to dry before I built up a mound of putty around the joint, then let that dry before doing flute bindings to cover it.
Once the bindings were set, I rubbed them down with a healthy amount of wood glue to lock them in place. I used enough that it would hopefully soak through and fix the twine not only to itself, but also to the pipe stem.
Thanks for checking out some more of my work! As always, I hope you enjoyed witnessing as much as I enjoyed creating!
© Photos and words by @albuslucimus, except where otherwise indicated.
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