Tag: wood

PVC overtone flute

On By CarynIn Craft, music, Uncategorized

Watching YouTube shorts sent me down another overtone rabbit hole. There was a person with a flute with no finger holes playing a lilting beautiful tune. Wha?! Some quick internet research revealed the Koncovka, a Slavic shepard’s instrument made from a long wood tube. The flute has two overtone series possibilities, one with the bottom hole open and the other with it covered, giving this simple whistle an astonishing number of notes for something with no finger holes. My next question was how to make one, and I found this short YouTube tutorial to make a PVC version.

I have some thin walled PVC tubes from an old Ladder ball game. These pipes have become materials for other projects more than they were ever assembled for the game.

Photo description: PVC pipe with a slot cut and sanded smooth, a section of dowel sanded to fit snuggly inside the tube, and a short section of red PVC pipe the same length as the wood and split lengthwise
Photo description: wood plug finished with butcher block wax and fit into the top of the tube
Photo description: red sleeve placed over the white PVC to create a narrow hole
Photo description: rubber band around the red sleeve to keep it tight and reduce air leaking
Photo description: finished PVC overtone flute

The tone of the flute is quite pleasing and very fun to experiment with. Below is an audio file of me playing the PVC overtone flute I talk about in this blog post.

I love it when my crafting and music rabbit holes merge and open a new room.

Throwback Thursday: cat cabinet

On By CarynIn Craft

In January 2018 we were still working on setting up the new-to-us house and I needed a place to feed Izzy the cat. We had a space in the corner of the master bedroom and the previous owners left a large old wood workbench with drawers on the back porch. I used the drawers as the structure for a cabinet, and cut sections of the workbench top for the cabinet top, bottom, and door.

Photo description: cabinet made from old workbench drawers
Photo description: inside of the cabinet, showing the open back

The door had a crack, so I used an old leather belt as strapping to reinforce it. It worked, because the door is still strong after 8 years.

Photo description: closeup of the leather strap showing the carving details from when it was a belt

Chimes

On By CarynIn Craft, music

I wanted a set of chimes for the front entry, so decided to make some.

Photo description: graduated chimes made from 1/4 inch aluminum rod hung with fishing line from a section of a cedar branch

I read that chimes are usually made with solid aluminum or brass tubes. Aluminum is easier to work with, so I purchased a set of 10 quarter inch rods that were each 16 inches in length for about $14. My first step was to make a small groove in some scrap wood to hold the rods while I drilled a hole in each end.

Photo description: scrap wood jig holding a aluminum rod and a hole drilled in the end with a drill press

Once each rod had a hole in each end, I used a band saw to cut the rods into different lengths, with about a 1/2 inch difference. I then sanded them to remove the burrs and sharp edges.

Photo description: 19 graduated aluminum rods with one extra originally intended to play the chimes, but was unnecessary

I found a scrap of cedar branch from a failed walking stick project and cut it to about 12 inches. I sanded it and finished it with Howards Feed-n-Wax.

Photo description: cedar branch being prepped for holes drilled 1/2 inch apart

I used steel stranded cable to hang the wood, and monofilament fishing line to string the chimes. The knots for the fishing line are all on the back of the branch. The chimes are strung with line that comes out the back and back in the front to increase ring time, and I found have a long line for stringing and a shorter secondary line for tying knots worked fairly well.

Here is a video of the chimes in action. If I get ambitious, I will tune them .

Interchangeable shelf sitter

On By CarynIn Craft

Here is the completed highland-coo-in-a-honey-pot shelf sitter, complete with clear UV coat and chunk of mesquite wood to keep it grounded.

Photo description: interchangeable shelf sitter with the door and honey pot painted shades of teal, and the bird house base painted white and gray to coordinate with my actual house, all sitting on a metal bench near the door entry

This is a cute project offered by the local Hobby Hut. I will be looking for the next painting day!

Highland coo

On By CarynIn art, Craft

I went to a painting class at our new local Hobby Hut to do an interchangeable shelf sitter. Very cute design, there is a “bird house” base and the door and central design can be changed out. I painted the base at the studio but took the highland coo in the honey home to paint.

Photo description: interchangeable parts painted by me of a highland coo in a honey pot with three bees

The original design had antenna on the highland coo, which I didn’t care for, so I cut them off before painting.

Photo description: original laser cut wood highland coo bass with antenna
Photo description: antenna removed with a band saw and the horns smoothed down with sand paper

I did have to fill the space on the next layer where the antenna were supposed to go, but some cutoff bits of wood and a heavy layer of paint did the trick.

I will post the glued together finished project once I’ve done a clear UV protectant spray coat. It has been raining almost every day, so I haven’t had the chance yet.