After hearing news recently of the discovery of world’s oldest musical instrument – a 35,000 year old flute made from a wing bone – I wondered how it would be to create a “modern” recorder. Using example recorders at home, and with the help of the Internet, I began a creation in SketchUp. Here’s the procedure I used to make only one part of the recorder – the Head. The remaining parts include the Center and Foot pieces.

Step 1:

I first created the shape of the recorder Head. I included space for the borings and the taper end which connects to the mid portion of the recorder, the Center piece.

Step 2:

After placing the circular path, I executed the Follow Me command to complete the turning. The borings are included.

Here’s a look down the front end of the Head to show the borings.

Step 3:

Next is the shaping of the lower section of the mouthpiece. I created a “cutter” with just the right shape.

Step 4:

I positioned the cutter precisely in readiness for executing an Intersection.

Step 5:

After intersecting, clean-up the waste material with the Eraser Tool.

Step 6:

There is an insert into the front of the mouthpiece which provides a small air path into the Head.
The insert must have the same diameter as the boring, and also must be cut to the same profile as the mouthpiece.

Step 7:

After executing Follow me, I place the mouthpiece cutter into position for an Intersection.

Step 8:

Clean-up the intersection with the Erasure Tool. Also, to remove unnecessary lines, use the Soften/Smooth Edges  feature. This can be found in a pop-up menu after selecting the surfaces and edges and right clicking on the object.

Step 9:

With the Push/Pull Tool, make a small flat on the top surface of the Mouthpiece Insert. This provides a small air path into the Head. Line up the mouthpiece insert (I use the centerlines as guides for this).

Here is the Head complete with the Mouthpiece Insert.

Step 10:

There is one more cut required – making the small slanted window opening in the top of the Head.  I make a tool for cutting this window opening by determining and combining the horizontal and vertical shapes.

Step 11:

After cleaning-up the waste after Intersecting, here is the resulting Window Cutter.

Step 12:

Place the Window Cutter precisely and execute an Intersection. Before doing this, I find it useful to explode both the Head and Cutter components.

This was quite a project and only represents one-third of the total instrument.  I can imagine how difficult this would be in the shop – someday.

Tim
http://killenwood.com

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