Flute Router Jig.

[carvingbarn]

Today I started my venture into making a flute. I do not have a router table. I did not want to buy one if I was not going make the flutes more than once or twice. So I made a jig for routing out the center of the flute. It worked out very well. I thought I would share it for those who may not have a router table and are looking into making a flute.
I wanted to router the center of a ¾ X 1 ½ “x 24 “board. Using a ¾ core box bit. I put the board to be routed in the center of a scrap piece ¾ “plywood about 8”x 30”. Then I skewed down one 3/4”x 3”x 24” on either sides of it. Fitting them snugly on the board in the center but not so tight that the board could not be mover back and forth. My router has a 5 ¾ “base. I measured out 2 7/8th from the center of the board to be routed out in each direction, placing a mark on each end and center of the each 3/4”x3” . I rip two small thin boards 24” long and placed them on the marks I made on the 3/4”x3”s. This created a rail for each side of the router and centered the core box router bit in the center of the board to be routed. Once the ¾ “x 1 ½ was in the jig I found that I needed to put a block at both ends because the board would move back and forth with the force of the router. One block I skewed down the other end I clamped in place. That was part of my learning curve. I had to discard one broad. After that I routed out 6 broads that I hope to make into 3 flutes to carve on. I will let you know how it goes. I hope this may be of some help to someone.
Flute jig 002.JPGFlute jig 003.jpgFlute jig 004.JPG

Flute jig 006.JPGFlute jig 008.jpg

[Tom Ellis]

I can almost hear it now Randy. You did a great job on the routing.

Tom

[WoodCarverOH]

Good thought you have there.
You can get the router bit chuck for your Shop Smith and with the table and fence use that fixture thus eliminating the hand held router.

[Inadv]

Score again!!!! Good times! I just bookmarked The Sunday Woodcarver's band saw jig for cutting on the diagonal and here comes another great jig that will need to be made. Thanks Randy for sharing a great idea, and for suffering the learning curve for the rest of us.

L.P.

[carvingbarn]

I forgot to share one thing. I put 3 coats of Johnson& Johnson floor wax on the jig. It helped the router to gullied smoothly in the jig,

[Buffalo Bif]

Next you need to share your glueing and clamping experiences with us....
I started looking at Native style flute construction recently but have not gotten past the thinkin stage yet. Thanks, Randy.

[pararaptor]

Hey Brian and Randy,
Just a suggestion:
I suggest using Titebond III for gluing the blanks together, and for clamping...I use strips of innertube that I stretch and wrap around the blanks like a boa constrictor, after I wrap a few bands of masking tape to hold it in place.
Another tip: Before you clamp or wrap with tube, grease up a section of dowel to match the bore and the blow hole to keep the bore walls in alignment.
A common mistake is to align the blank and not the bore.
Just a thought.
Greg

[medicinedog]

After seeing Greg's pipes I was all psyched to make me a pipe but wasn't sure how to go about it. Between Randy and Greg's post I just about have it figured out. Notice Greg's pipes don't have the bore going all the way through but rather a set of holes near the end. That really leaves it open for a lot of artistic expression.
I have a router table but never thought about a cove bit...duh, thanks Randy. What are the best diameters to make the bore and the finger holes. And is there a prefered spacing. Last question .. the two blanks, are they cut side to side or top to bottom or does it matter.(where is the glue line?) Thanks. Lar