Happy New year….It’s only been about 10 minutes and I already want my money back. Oh wait, wrong topic. This is my first flute for 2025. Oklahoma red cedar with a mouthpiece of macassar ebony between two layers of California buckeye burl. The fetish, and biscuit disks...
……So this last flute for the year, is built from Pau Ferro, also known as Brazilian Ironwood. As you might have guessed, it’s a hardwood tuned to Gm. The most unusual thing about this instrument is probably the fetish block. Unlike the birds I fashion, I carved this...
This F#m flute is built from Hawaiian curly koa, and took just North of 90 hours to complete. Given the pedigree of the wood, I chose to forgo the southwest Native American accents, in favor of materials more aligned with the islands of the Pacific. The bird is...
So I found a local furniture maker who was willing/able to rip and rout 12 blanks of material for me, so I can continue building flutes for another year….God Willing. This mud brown material is another example of what the wood peddlers call “Rainbow” poplar. Highly...
So, I have one more flute left to build after this one. Each instrument takes about a month, and both of my heavy lifter apprentices have moved on in their careers and retirement, and at 77 years of age, dragging out a table saw, and router/table, will require...
Neither you, nor this flute will ever want to find yourselves together at a Woodland Native American community gathering. Ever. The snake is very powerful medicine for these folks, and not welcome outside the confines of their ceremonies. This instrument is 20-7/8” in...
About 14 years ago, I was introduced to the artistry of Zuni fetish carvers, and began incorporating the work into a few of my instruments. One artist in particular, Garrick Acque, for me, stood out from the rest. I thought it fitting to incorporate one of his carved...
Many builders and players love eastern red cedar flutes. I am not one of them. This instrument has a nice, respectable voice for a cedar flute. However, it is not a cedar flute. Folks can purchase red cedar for around $0.50 USD per board foot. This flute is built from...
Hi. This flute is built from Oklahoma red cedar and tuned to G#4. It has a bore diameter of 7/8” and is 18 inches in length. Overall, it’s a nice cedar flute, technically correct, nicely voiced, and not one of my favorites. The only reason for that is because it’s...
Meet Whimsy 2.0 I began building this block from scraps, and it is the second build with this cast of characters. The flute wood is SE Asian paldao, with accents of dyed/stabilized box elder burl. The fetish block is somewhat fragile, so this flute would not be your...