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Ramin sticks of 23 mm (for the smaller pipes) and of 28 mm (for the larger pipes). PS: Other species of wood with a fine grain can be used too, like: ebony, walnut, pear, cherry, European- and Japanese oak, mahogany, etc. The timbre, dependent on the resonance modulus of the wood, may subtlety differ. Of course pan flutes can be made of bamboo too. |
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The measures and numbers of the pipes are marked off. |
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To measure sawn sticks, ready to be bored. |
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Drill set up consisting of: 1. 1 HP electromotor (not visible); 2. Shaft with chuck; 3. Catch in chuck; 4. Free turning hollow centre; 5. Chuck with drill; 6. Pushing stick in rack to push drill forward. |
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The different sizes of drills: Pipe number: bore in mm 1/3 8 4/5 8,5 6/7 9 8/9 9,5 10/11 10 12/13 11 14/15 12 16/17 13 18/19 14 20/21 15 22/23 16 24/25 17 |
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Catch with a conical hole and four wings (for catching round sticks). Suitable for round and square sticks with a diameter of 23-30 mm. |
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Free hollow centre mounted on a slide (to be able to bore different lengths of sticks). The inner side of the centre is conical. In here fit round sticks with a diameter of 23-30 mm. Square sticks have to be turned partly round to fit. The centre turns on ball bearings. |
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Back side of free centre with exchangeable drill conductor. |
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The different sizes of drill conductors. |
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Chuck with drill mounted on the second slide. The slide can be pushed forward with a pushing stick, which grips beneath in a rack. Thus the stick/slide can be put forward according to the progress of the drill |
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All pipes are bored. |
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The inner sides of the pipes are now polished with fine steel wool that gradually in small portions is turned on an old round file. |
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The polishing. The rod covered with steel wool must be just thick enough to pressure against the wood. |
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Before turning the pipes to the exact diameter they are clamped between two conical centres. This way the bore will centre neatly, even when the bore does not run exactly through the center. The conical centre at the chuck side has four little wings and operates as a catch. |
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Turning the pipes to the exact diameter. The diameters increase by about ½ mm. Thickness of the wood 3/3 ½. Mm. |
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While the wood turns the pipe is sanded with fine sandpaper (180) and polished with fine steel wool. (Nr 0). |
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At the top of the pipe a small cut is made with a fret saw a few mms from the end. This is done to get a square top. |
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The top of the pipe is cut square with a fine fret saw. |
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So far the pipes are ready. |
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Now each pipe has to be flattened at both sides, except for the top and bottom pipe. This is done with a router. The pipe is clamped in a special holder. To be able to glue the pipes later on in an arc (radius of the circle 22 pipes 20 ½ cm, 25 pipes 23 cm) the two sides have to be routed in an angle. Therefore the side of the holder against which the pipe is clamped, is planed in the needed angle. |
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To get a perfect fit between the pipes, the sides are sanded on a belt sander. |
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The fit is checked. |
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The top of the pipe is sanded round and finished with fine sandpaper. |
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The pipes are glued together on a mold. |
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The flute is sawn in an arc with a fret saw. |
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The pipes are slightly lowered on the backside by moving the flute along a sanding disk. |
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The result of the above described operation. |
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To find the tones more easily little plates are inserted in the pipes g (black) and the d (red). |
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Filing, sanding and polishing, finishes the plates. |
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The front side of the pipes are lowered a bit in an arc. |
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Filing, sanding and polishing, rounds the sharp edges caused by the sanding drum. |
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Rests of glue between the pipes are scraped away with the point of a triangle file. |
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The pan-flute is now thoroughly sanded for the last time and polished with steel wool. Than the flute is polished for the first time with a mix of shellac and alcohol (so called French polishing). |
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On the picture you see three different colors of shellac flakes. More information on shellac you’ll find in website: www.shellac.net/information.html |
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The dust in the pipes is removed. |
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The inner side of the pipes is finished twice with cellulose lacquer. |
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Now the tuning corks are put in the pipes. |
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Not available sizes of cork are made by cutting and filing down bigger corks. |
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For the biggest pipes used champagne corks (collected by a friend who owns a restaurant) are turned and sanded to the right size. |
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The corks are pushed to the right depth with the help of a steel rod with an adjustable stop. |
 The pipes are fine tuned by son Marc with the help of an electronic tuner. |
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| The front and backside of the shoe is made of two layers of veneer. For the bottom a single layer is used. First the edges are marked off on paper. From these base lines the form of the shoe is designed. For the shape and measures of these models see the next picture. |
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| The paper models are copied on the veneer where after the veneer pieces can be cut. |
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The two layers of veneer are glued together with contact glue. The top edge is sanded in a smooth arc on a sanding disc. |
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The shoe is temporarily clamped on the flute and the edge is copied on the flute wit the point of a sharp knife. |
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The notch made by the knife is deepened by a mini circular saw. |
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The place for the shoe is flattened with a chisel and finished by filing and sanding. |
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The shoe is glued on the flute with contact glue. The ends of the shoe are made equal with the pipes by cutting, filing, sanding and polishing. |
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The shoe is sanded equal with the body of the flute. |
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To get a good base for the bottom veneer of the shoe all holes are filled with plaster. After drying the bottom veneer is glued in place and finished by cutting off the overlap and filing, sanding and polishing. |
The flute is now finished by several layers of French polishing and then………………. The pan-flute is ready |
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Text — Henk van Mil
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Henk van Mil
henkvanmil@hetnet.nl