As I mentioned previously, flute making
is not my profession. It is sort of a
labor of love. Each flute has a
different story to me. There is not
much money that is made making a flute if you actually calculated hours of time
spent. I use a variety of wood from
soft to hard, aromatic cedar to exotics, as you will see in my flute
photos. However, anything is possible
with custom flutes, just ask.
Primarily my
flutes have the flue in the flute with a square bottom fetish. My fetishes include a wolf head, walking bear,
basic bird, traditional bird, horse head and fancy bird.
I use top quality dried lumber, deerskin
or top grain leather for lashings, deer antlers for beads, and feathers for
decorating. I offer flutes in the key
of G, G#, F, F#, A and D. The bores of this flute are either 3/4” or 7/8”. Measurement
of 1 1/8’’, and 1/2” to follow in the future or if requested. All of my flutes
are handmade by me with a router and spoke shaves so they will not be perfectly
round as on a lathe. I prefer the primitive
look and feel. Each and every flute has
a different sound and look.
I use the best
glue available, waterproof for moisture. Each and every flute is sealed inside
and out with boiled linseed oil. Then the flutes are left to dry (days if
necessary) before the exterior is sprayed with a high quality polyurethane. Then
320 or 400-grit sandpaper between finished or synthetic steel wool is used.
All flutes are
tuned in a pentatonic scale using an electronic Korg chromatic tuner. Care is taken in the tuning process to
produce a concert-tuned flute. However,
different regions of the world may change the tune due to humidity and
such. Before any flutes leave my care,
they are played. I check for imperfection in sound. Quality of sound and feel
of flutes. If I am not happy, the flute goes into the scrap box. I am very picky and will only deliver a
quality flute. The sounds from my flutes will please your ears and soul.