DAY 1
I packed my rat tail file, so I will need to borrow one to make the final notch. I do have the Dremel tool with routing tip that was used to hollow out the body though, so I decided to use that to make a preliminary notch. Hopefully this will make it easier to work down when I get the file.
With the notch as-is, this flute with no finger positions plays a near-perfect E note. Nice!
So, while I will still be making changes to the notch to make it play more easily, I will (for now at least) plan on setting this flute up in the key of E Major. So for my own reference, the notes of the finger positions will need to be:
E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E
If my changes to the notch ruin this clean E of course, I will have to adapt and work with whatever I get.
DAY 2
I dreamt about the flute last night. In the dream, I found that the notch was crooked relative to the body of the flute, and by correcting it i was able to get an easier playing and stronger sounding flute.
When I first examined it this morning, I thought the dream had been wrong - but on further inspection I realized it was actually true! How had I overlooked this!?
I still dont have a round file to work with, but I could work on modifying this to get it straightened out a bit - just with the tools I do have.
I used a hacksaw to straighten the back end, sandpaper to modifut the angle, and a sanding wheel to try to get the interior wall thickness a little more uniform.
| Column1 | Column2 |
|---|---|
 | I wondered if the alignment of the notch with respect to the angel of the mouthpieces were having a negative impact on the new flute’s playability. Since this is all experimental, I decided today find out - I used a hacksaw to cut the end at a new angle, hoping this would make it easier to get this flute’s voice to sound. |
 | After cutting the end of the flute to something closer to perpendicular to the notch, the opening was more shallow than it had been originally. From my little experience in making flutes from PVC pipes, I assumed this would be the casez |
Following this modification, of course I would need to test it. For all of my “testing” videos, I am filming my first attempts; I want to record the event, whether or not the results are favorable.
So…well it’s definitely worse now than it was when I started! Tomorrow I’m going to widen the notch and see if things get any better. Fingers crossed! 🤞
DAY 3
…I probably shouldn’t feel this way, but as easy as it’s been to get PVC pipes to sing, I find myself really shocked to see that all I’ve been able to do so far is make matters worse. I’m comforted at least by the fact that it wasn’t good enough even at its best - I couldn’t have settled happily for things as they were - but still, this was such a unique piece of wood, it’s a shame to call it a loss this far in. Worst case scenario it would still be a cool decoration, but I really don’t want to settle for that. I’ll probably end up destroying this piece before I quit trying to make it work, but so far, it seems that is exactly the path I am on, and making a flute that doesn’t work is far less exciting than making one that does.
I widened the notch with a file. It got a little better than it was after the second mod, but still didn’t sound as clean or play as easily as it did after the initial notch. I tried moving the notch, so now there are two. I’ll have to make a decision as to which notch gets filled and which one stays, and with the data I have available to me at present, the decision feels purely arbitrary. Perhaps the new notch could be good if the second were filled - truth is I won’t know until I try, but this definitely has all the hallmarks of a disappointment waiting to come to fruition.
Here you can see the two notches, side by side…I can’t imagine this is ever a good sign.
I wrapped some tape around the inside to give temporary support for the wood filler:
…and packed the original notch. At this point I have no way of knowing which of the two, if either, is better. Unfortunately, I won’t know if this works without doing it. But I know I can’t sit around and quit without trying, so I’ve got to do everything I can to make this work. To be completely honest, this is the point where I really do tend to want to give up - but I know time will pass regardless of whether or not I try, and I know that when the time has passed, I will regret trying less than I will regret failing. Still, I would really love to turn this unique piece of wood into a working flute.
DAY 4
I wiped the branch down with a thick coat of white mineral oil and, once it had dried, rubbed it with wax.
Then I sanded the wood filler down to blend it with the rest of the body of the branch.
With the old notch filled in and sanded, I attempted to stain the wood filler before testing out the new notch.
It’s still not as good a the initial notch, and I hate to keep saying it, but the initial notch was not good enough either. I’m going to widen this one and see what I get; I don’t want to give up too early, but if I can’t get a good initial sound out of it there will be no point in damaging the body by trying to place/tune finger positions - if it comes to this, I think I will change directions and do something different with this branch - but I’m not quite ready to give up just yet.
After widening, I tested once more.
…this plays relatively easily. It’s not as nice as my professional quenas, but could potentially become at least a functional instrument. To be honest, I’m beginning to think an exceptional pipe would be cooler than a mediocre flute. I have several other branches I’ve been saving for a few years, so I know we will still make a flute, but I think for this exceptional piece of wood, I really want to create an exceptional product that I actually enjoy using - if I make a sub-par flute, it will wind up sitting unused as a decoration. An excellent pipe however, could be a decoration AND serve a useful function. Regardless, the lessons I’ve learned during this build will be carried forward into the next, and I will definitely be making more flutes until I can get good at it.
As for changing this project into a smoking pipe: I don’t know why, but even with sound logic backing the new idea I still find myself torn.
What do you think I should do?
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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