How to Carve a Whistle
Carving a whistle by hand requires time, energy and patience. It also requires a bit of skill with a whittling knife. Creating your own functional whistle, though, is well-worth the effort. Children will especially enjoy seeing a whistle emerge from a simple stick.
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Instructions
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Find a stick 5 to 6 inches long with a diameter of 1/2 inch. The stick should be green and have the bark in place. Make sure the stick is fairly straight without any knots or twigs.
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Prepare the stick by cutting its ends so they are flat and straight. Designate one end of the stick as your starting edge. From this edge, measure 1 1/2 inches along the stick and mark with the grease pencil. Then measure 2 1/2 inches along the stick and mark.
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3
Cut a V-shaped notch in the bark at the closest mark to the edge from which you began your measurements. At your next measurement, cut the bark deep into the stick around the circumference of the stick.
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4
Remove the bark. Dip the stick in water from your starting edge up to the line you have cut around the stick. Remove the stick and gently tap on the wet bark. Continue to wet and tap on the bark until you are able to twist the bark around the stick. Be careful not to crush the bark cylinder as you pull it off the stick.
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5
Cut out the cavity. On the bare stick, measure from your starting edge 1 1/2 inches along the stick and mark. From this mark, measure 1 1/2 inches farther and mark. Cut a line into the stick at each mark until you get to the middle of the stick. Whittle the wood between the cuts down to the core.
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Create an air passage from your starting edge to the cavity. To do this, whittle the strip of stick from your starting edge to the cavity until you have lowered the entire area.
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Slide the bark back onto the strip. The V-shaped notch should line up with the beginning of the cavity. Blow air into your starting edge to produce a whistle. If no sound comes out, you may need to whittle a larger air passage.
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