I have an affection for Penny Whistles and Ocarinas.    I also have a bit of a collection of these.  My wife also loves these, but hates loud, high pitched noises.

So I decided to make a low Penny Whistle.  Lots of odd research and equipment involved.  Lots of skills to develop, and physics models to play with.  It was a very fun project and it taught me quite a bit.

Of course I did not follow conventional form, instead I borrrowed and twisted and innovated a bit of my own.   The result was quite well worth it.

About the innovations,

The fipple is on the opposite side of the flute from the finger holes and it presents on a corner.

This allows the instrument to be held closer to the body in a more natural pose.

The holes are  grouped with the hands seperated and the holes skewed to make them a more natural grip.

The entire instrument is made from cedar and constists of only two parts.   There is no glue holding the fipple in the bore.

The sound is to me, exquisite.  Almost a pity for such a fine instrument to be kept by such a poor musician as myself.

The case is made of popular and cedar, with a milk paint finish.

The case has been through quite a bit, but has held up nicely.

Cedar is an ideal wood for an instrument.  It breathes and does not expand much when damp.  Flutes get damp.
This one project required developing skills and tool use outside of the use of a circular saw or table saw.  It led me to another world that I am happy to now live in.

Bob

Not yet perfected, but it is showing good  potential as a prototype.

The wood clamp slides along the two bars.  The held blade slides across the grinder.

The angle and position can be adjusted.

After using it a bit, it needs to be easier to adjust and micro adjustment to slowly bring the vise closer to the wheel would be nice.

It isn’t so much a hand tool as a power tool to make hand tools, but it does do a reasonable job for me.

Bob

Here is the answer to the Chrismas Puzzle!

Here are all the fixings to make another one!

It may be a bit, Cutting down aluminum bronze takes a bit of work.

O1 Steel, the tip has been tempered and left quite hard.  The rest has not been hardened.  The aluminum bronze is quite tough and solid stuff.  Work to work but it is pretty and one of the more resistant to just about every thing materials.  A pair of leather washers right where the fingers will probably grip, and a mesquite handle.

Bob

Here is a tool I made as a gift.  Not the hardest puzzle to solve, but a puzzle.

No fair guessing, Skip, you saw the sketches!

My goal here was to make a tool that would appeal to both my love of the simple rustic line and to those who desire bling.  It is made of mesquite, O1 Steel. aluminum bronze and leather.

Bob

I have over the years killed an amazing number of trees.  This is entirely excluding the trees send by  a few companies that make their living by sending people dead trees.  The ration of dead to living has started to change quite a bit in the last few years.  No magic to the difference, simply a bit of better methodology.

Here are a few of the lesser known rules I follow.

1. Drainage.  I have clay soil in most places.  Most trees will not live If I plant them in a clay hole.  The test is to dig the hole, and fill it with water.  If it is empty in 15 minutes, then a tree can go there.  Otherwise, I don’t get to plant the tree.

2. Hole shape.  Smooth sided, round holes are bad.  Rough, triangular holes are good.  The roots will circle and not spread in a hard soil, smooth, round hole.  In a Triangular hole, the root will find a corner and push further on.  A triangle will make for a good start on stability.

3. Tree handling.  Hurt the pot, don’t hurt the tree.  Do not pick up the tree by the trunk.  Do not pull the tree out of the pot by the trunk.  This does not happen in nature, and will damage the small root hairs and create stress that a tree is unprepared for.  Supporting it by the trunk on the side is not so bad, wind creates that sort of pressure on a tree, so it is ready for it.  In this case get ready to get dirty, pick up the root by the ball.

4. Water the tree before removing it from the pot.  This will reduce the damage to the root hairs by drying.

So far this fall, I have planted 23 trees.  In this case, all of them are really tough, and have been planted in great soil, or soil that I have been preparing and amending for four years.  I suspect that they will all do fine.

Bob