Monday, February 4, 2013

Wind Chimes!

So this was a little complicated. My rocket scientist of a dad figured out how to make a metal pipe ring at certain tones. Anyway I'm going to post a tutorial and try and explain what the hell he figured out, but if I can't communicate it to you, don't get mad! Hes a genius and I have no Idea if i will be able to explain this...

Supplies:
-Hollow aluminum pipe
-Drill
-Sand paper
- Sharpie
- Ruler
-Saw

*Note this is not how to make a wind chime tutorial, it is specifically just the CHIMES. I don't want to spend a year writing this.

Step 1) First, go to this website, click on the picture and a chart with the pitches, lengths and all the information you will need to figure out what pitches you  need will be there.
http://home.fuse.net/engineering/Chimes.htm#Pre-calculated

Step 2) Now figure out how long each piece needs to be and mark them with a sharpie, then cut them up with your saw!

Step 3) Once you cut your pieces, look at the chart and measure how low the hole needs to be from the top. It's different for each piece so pay attention to the chart!

Step 4) Drill those suckers! Make sure you don't drill a hole into your finger!

Step 5) Ok, so now it is time to sand off the pieces. You can use a sand paper, but my dad had an electric sandpaper/buffer thing (I obviously don't know my tools). Make sure you get the inside as well. 

Step 6) Now here you may be done, but if you want a specific pitch, your going to need to make this contraption:


This is a metal block with 2 bolts on each side and 2 rubber bands holding them down. 

- Lay the piece you have just cut onto it and hit it with another metal piece. Because it is somewhat suspended, it will ding its true sound. 

- You can try and match this up to tones on the piano and make it shorter if you had to. (My dad is a perfectionist so we did it many times)

And hopefully you can understand this and cut yourself some chimes! Good luck...