Sandpaper and Glue

Well, another week or so has gone by and the flute is coming along nicely. Shown in this photo are the early stages of the sound holes of the flute. The air will flow from the left to the right of the flute. It will eventually come up through the opening on the left, traverse the "flue" and then enter through the "true sound hole" (or the hole on the right) this hole will make the actual sound of the flute, somewhat like blowing across the top of a glass soda bottle.






This is the inside of the flute with the air flow from right to left. To the right is the slow air chamber, to the left the actual bore of the flute. I used a chisel to create the small ramps leading up to the openings from the inside, this aides with the air flow to keep things moving smoothly. Once this was completed I needed to route the flue of the flute to channel the air from the opening of the slow air chamber to the opening of the bore. I chose to add some Black Walnut to this section of the flute which meant I needed to cut two small pieces of wood to use as my inserts. Once these were cut to approximate size I sanded them down to fit and glued them in place. This was followed by more sanding to make the top flat and level. This section of the flute is called "the nest" and later in the process you'll see why its vital that this piece be completely flat and smooth. So, after some time on the sanding block this is what I ended up with. (air flow from right to left again).

With all this competed I was ready to Glue my flute together in preparation for turning the flute to make it rounded. This takes a few basic steps, first the bore and slow air chamber of the flute should be shellacked to protect them from moisture. Then a light coating of glue is applied to one half of the flute. Both halves are then pressed together and clamped in place after aligning the bore of the flute properly. So, my flute will sit like this all weekend until work resumes on Tuesday next week. (note, the image of the flute being glued is another student and his flute, not the one I'm working on. and yes, our "clamps" are made of PVC pipe.)