Best Kiowa Flute Making Instructions

Native American flutes get their unique, haunting sound because the flute has two interior chambers separated by a "flue" that directs the air up and through a second sound hole. While many Native American flutes are made of bamboo or river reeds, some of the most beautiful are carved of woods like cedar, maple or spruce. Making a traditional Kiowa love flute from scratch is a moderately challenging project for an experienced woodworker. These instructions are for making a Kiowa love flute in the key of F#. If you start with a purchased flute blank, skip the first section of these instructions.

Things You'll Need

• 1 2-by-2-by-28 inch block of wood (or 1 purchased flute blank) Table or band saw Router with 7/8-inch round head bit Drill and 1/8-inch bit Files/rasps Sandpaper Wood finish (tung oil or stain) Pencil Leather thong

Instructions

Creating the Flute Body From Scratch

1. Choose the the type of wood, which will affect the sound and feel of the flute as well as how easy it is to work with it. The most popular wood for making Kiowa love flutes is cedar, but you can use pine, fir, spruce, redwood, maple, oak, walnut or alder, among others.

2. Cut wood to 24 inches in length. Set aside remnant to shape bird later. Rip the 24-inch length in half using a table or band saw. The two halves will form the flute body.

3. 

   Measure and mark the distance for the slow air chamber (SAC) and the sound chamber on both halves of the flute body. Make your first mark about 1 1/2 inches from the "head" of the flute. Make a second mark about 3 inches from the first line, and a third about 1 inch from the second mark.

4. Create the SAC and sound chamber in each half with router, using a 7/8-inch round head bit. Refer to the routing diagram in Step 3 above. Do not route blackened areas. The routed trough should be about 1/2-inch deep to create a 1-inch diameter bore when the two pieces are joined.

5. Sand interior of each routed trough to smooth the surface.

6. 

   Drill pilot holes for SAC exit and true sound hole (TSH) in one half of the flute body using 1/8-inch drill bit. This half will be the top of your flute. The mouth hole should be drilled just before the dividing wall between the two chambers, and should be drilled directly through the wood from the inside to the outside. The true mouth hole should be drilled directly after the dividing wall, and should be drilled at about a 45-degree angle away from the head of the flute.

7. Carefully line up the cut edges of the cedar block and glue together. Clamp till dry. You now have a completed flute blank.

Shaping the Flute and Drilling Holes for Your Kiowa Love Flute

1. Sand the flute smooth. You can use a lathe to start shaping the flute at this point, or sand it into shape.

2. 

   Using a craft knife or a pencil, draw a rounded rectangle around the two pilot holes, allowing about 1/2 inch above and below them. Sand the marked area smooth and flat.

3. Drill the mouth hole into the head end of the flute using a 1/8-inch drill bit or Dremel tool, or heat an awl and use it to burn through the wood into the slow air chamber from the end of the flute.

4. 

   Carefully drill and shape the SAC exit hole and the true sound hole starting with the pilot holes drilled from the inside earlier. The holes should be perfectly rectangular for best sound. Maintain the 45-degree angle on the TSH while enlarging the opening. Test sound as you drill by blowing into the mouth hole and judging the key for your base note.

5. 

   Draw two lines connecting the exit hole and the true sound hole on either side, then carefully cut away the wood between the two holes. This is the "flue," a channel that will direct the air from one chamber into the other. It should slope downward from the exit hole to the true sound hole.

6. Test the sound of the flute and shorten if necessary to adjust pitch. The longer you make the sound tube, the lower the pitch of your flute will be. Saw off sections from the foot of the flute in 1/4-inch increments until you reach the desired sound, then sand the end to fine-tune the pitch.

7. 

   Mark the top of the flute for placement of the fingering holes. Drill fingering holes through flute wall using a 1/4-inch drill bit. Increase diameter of holes slowly, finishing of with sandpaper to smooth edges.

8. Finish shaping the flute with a sanding block or lathe.

Creating the Fetish

1. 

   Measure and mark cutting lines on the remaining block of wood, following the carving diagram. The diagram also shows how the fetish piece should fit onto the flute.

2. Sand fetish piece with fine sandpaper to a smooth finish.

3. Bind fetish piece to flute using leather thong.

Tips & Warnings

• Instead of drilling the holes for the flute, you can use a heated awl, screwdriver or nail to burn through the wood. Customize the distance for the sound holes by using your finger span as a measure.

• Always wear eye protection when working with saws, lathes and sanders to prevent eye injury.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Native Access: Hand-drawn diagram for a Native American love flute
• Oregon Flute Store sells cedar flute blanks and flute making supplies
• North American Native Flute Woodworking group at Yahoo! Groups
• Flute Shop: Excellent tutorial on shaping the true sound hole and SAC exit