Step by step: making a bamboo wind chime

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If the melody of certain metal chimes annoys, the song of the bamboo chime is particularly comforting and soothing. Its tinkling - which is reminiscent of that of the halyards in the rigging of pleasure yachts - invites the spirit to travel, conquered by its mysterious charms. In the following lines, you will find the basics of making a bamboo chime as commonly found in garden centers. Of course, and this is even recommended, it is entirely possible for you to innovate in this area, by imagining and then making your own chime according to your own rules. In fact, your imagination is the only limit imposed in this exercise.

Difficulty : way Cost : around 15 euros Tools required : - A medium section bamboo stake - A piece of plank - String - A drill (or a set of twists) - A jigsaw (or a handsaw) - A hacksaw (or thief saw) - A clamp - A double decimeter Optional: - A compass - Sandpaper - A wood grater

Step 1: Cut the bamboo stems

They are the ones who will produce the chime sounds. Be careful not to take split stems.

Using the hacksaw, cut the stem 1 or 2 cm above an annular knot. We use the hacksaw and its small teeth to avoid tearing off the upper part of the thatch.

Drill with a drill (or with the spin) to cross right through the part above the knot, we will slide the string in to hang it. First drill one side, then the other by turning the rod over, because if you pierce the two holes all at once, there is a risk of the bark bursting underneath.

Step 2: Cut out the hanging plate

It is this wafer that defines the spacing of the rods.

Using a cover or a compass, draw a circle whose diameter corresponds to 4 times the diameter of a rod. In this example the rods are 3 cm in diameter, the circle is therefore 12 cm. Locate the center of the circle.

The board is fixed to the edge of the table with a clamp. Take the handsaw or jigsaw and cut out the patty. If you opt for the handsaw, it will take a little elbow grease to file the angles left by the straight cuts, courage!

Draw two perpendicular lines passing through the center of the circle. Place the bamboo rod at the edge of the circle and mark the diameter of the rod on each line.

Drill the first hole in the middle, between the edge of the cake and the line corresponding to the diameter of the rod that you have just made. Make another one next.

Optional: If your neighbors do not leave you the choice of weapons, use the spin. To help you, pass a cleat in the eye of the spin to help you turn, it allows you to turn quickly without getting tired, and without making noise ... Start with the small spin and increase the diameter as you go '' to obtain a hole large enough to pass the string.

Step 3: Cut the hammer

The hammer is the moving part that strikes the bamboo stalks.

On a scrap wood - or a failed test like this one - trace the hammer. Its diameter is slightly less than two diameters of bamboo. Or, in our example, about 5 cm (6 cm minus 1 cm). Cut it out. The ideal is to use a very hard wood (oak, walnut, chestnut ...) to obtain a clearer, more frank sound. Soft wood will tend to absorb sound, but it is not an absolute necessity.

Step 4: Create the outfielder

It is the part which is located under the hammer, that the wind will move causing the hammer against the bamboo stems.

This piece of the chime should be light, but not too much. Light for the wind can make it move easily, but not too much otherwise it would not have enough force to drive the hammer. Generally we use thatch cut in half, as wide as possible for better wind resistance. A piece of a bigger bamboo would be perfect!

Drill the outfielder from a hole in its upper part.

Step 5: Is everything ready? No, let's tweak it a bit

A little control is required. We must have 4 bamboo stems, a wafer, a hammer and an outfielder. On the cake two small bamboo wedges can be used later to settle certain details. Now is the time to decorate or tweak your chime. By planing the corners of the slab and the hammer, rounding the fielder using a knife, cutting the lower part of the rods to modify the sound, sculpting the rods, etc.

Step 6: Attach the bamboo on the cake

Not easy to navigate with all these holes, but with a little method, we get there without problem.

For ease, lay everything flat on the table. Place the cake upside down, the bottom visible, if you have rounded or decorated its visible side. Arrange the four bamboo stems all around, their final position is between the holes. Tip: to pass the string more easily without it bending in the holes, tightly wrap a piece of tape at its end.

Leave the bamboo stems a few centimeters so as not to impede their pendulum movement. To hide the knot of the string, arrange for the two ends to come out of the inside of an annular knot. Thus, the knot will be hidden in a rod.

Lift the cake and adjust the length of the strings to harmonize the height of all the stems.

Step 7: the pendulum system

Take another piece of string (approx. 2 meters), and tie a knot in the middle of the string, at the presumed height of the cake (1 meter above to hang the chime, one meter below to fix the elements ). This knot will serve to block the cake and prevent it from going down. Pass this string through the cake and hang your chime.

If it leans to one side, especially since the rods are not equal in length and weight, use the small shims to ballast or adjust the horizontality of the cake.

Locate (suspended or flat) the height of the hammer by making a small line on the string, it should be on the lower half of the height of the bamboo stems. Too high, the range of motion of the hammer would be too low and the sound less audible. Position the hammer and make a knot underneath at the location of the line. Then pass the outfielder and finish with a last knot.