Many new nose flute videos in this period of the year, notably those 2 by the young japanese Ayano: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Stille Nacht.
Dec 22, 2012
Dec 21, 2012
Moulding and Casting - Part 2: casting urethan
It's a long time I've been wanting to experiment with casting nose flutes. As a model, I chose a Bocarina™, because I love those babies, because they are easy to disassemble and because they are produced by ABS injection... in a mould.
My goal is not to forge a Bocarina™, and certainly not to make a market with that (anyway, moulding and casting is much more expensive that buying the original nose flute!). Chris Schuermans had authorized me to experiment with a mould. Indeed, my goal is purely recreational.
[Sequel of the post "Part 1: Hard silicone"]
--
Moulding and Casting - Part 2: casting urethan resin
My first attempt with the new mould was with urethan resin. It's a simple two component resin, the resin itself and its hardener, mixed half/half. The hardening time is very short, more or less 2 minutes, depending on the environment temperature.
So, I weighed 25g of each component (15 would have been sufficient...), mixed them carefully, and poured the mix in my mould. I wasn't sure if my resin was still active, since it had largely exceeded its expiration date.
When I unmoulded, I was kind of disappointed: some bubbles had no time to get away from the flute, and particularly at the fipple...
And even after making patches (of fresh resin), the nose flute looks crappy (but works correctly). I forgot to tell that I glued the insert with cyanoacrylate.
--
For the scond attempt, I decided to mix less hardener with the resin, but stir the mix more carefully to compensate. Ouch! The result was very funny, but with no bubbles...
The skin is bloated and strange tonalities of brown appeared, making the Boccy look like having been made out of bone. On the sound side: it is correct, but not as powerful as an original, and a bit windy.
--
I finally found the solution to my problem: mixing 2 equal parts of the component, but pouring the mix while holding the mould in an oblique position. I should have think of that before, and have slanted the Boccy parts to cast the mould...
So, I tried with a regular mix, but added some pink phosphorescent powder in it. This time, I got no bubbles and a correct quality of skin. The nose flute is not very attractive... unless you wait for the night!!
--
The next step was experimenting with colorants. For the first one, I mix some reddish color with the mix-base, then added some blue just in the corner of my mixing box. I forgot to hold the mould in a oblique way, and got a huge bubble (patched with base resin on the picture below):
--
Finally, I managed the color mixing technique. The secret is "not too much, but enough" :). And vary the way of pouring to feed alternatively different colors.
So, I made a series of 4 great boccies. For sure, I gave her each a little name.
The Limerina:
with a patch however:
The Strawberry&Cream:
The Boar Thigh:
Windy Winter:
--
On the sound side, the best ones (the ones that are perfect for the fipple casting) sounds as good as an original Bocarina™, polypropylene version (the sharper one). The ones with uneven fipple (the ones on which I didn't perfectly glued the insert) sound correct, but a bit "windy.
And now, the family:
To be continued!
-----
On the same topic :
- Moulding and Casting - Part 1: hard silicone
- Moulding and Casting - Part 2: casting urethane
- Moulding and Casting - Part 3: low temp alloys
- Moulding and Casting - Part 4: soft silicone
- Moulding and Casting - Part 5: casting Acrylic
----
My goal is not to forge a Bocarina™, and certainly not to make a market with that (anyway, moulding and casting is much more expensive that buying the original nose flute!). Chris Schuermans had authorized me to experiment with a mould. Indeed, my goal is purely recreational.
[Sequel of the post "Part 1: Hard silicone"]
--
Moulding and Casting - Part 2: casting urethan resin
My first attempt with the new mould was with urethan resin. It's a simple two component resin, the resin itself and its hardener, mixed half/half. The hardening time is very short, more or less 2 minutes, depending on the environment temperature.
So, I weighed 25g of each component (15 would have been sufficient...), mixed them carefully, and poured the mix in my mould. I wasn't sure if my resin was still active, since it had largely exceeded its expiration date.
 |  |
When I unmoulded, I was kind of disappointed: some bubbles had no time to get away from the flute, and particularly at the fipple...
 |  |
 |  |
--
For the scond attempt, I decided to mix less hardener with the resin, but stir the mix more carefully to compensate. Ouch! The result was very funny, but with no bubbles...
The skin is bloated and strange tonalities of brown appeared, making the Boccy look like having been made out of bone. On the sound side: it is correct, but not as powerful as an original, and a bit windy.
 |  |
--
I finally found the solution to my problem: mixing 2 equal parts of the component, but pouring the mix while holding the mould in an oblique position. I should have think of that before, and have slanted the Boccy parts to cast the mould...
So, I tried with a regular mix, but added some pink phosphorescent powder in it. This time, I got no bubbles and a correct quality of skin. The nose flute is not very attractive... unless you wait for the night!!
 |  |
--
The next step was experimenting with colorants. For the first one, I mix some reddish color with the mix-base, then added some blue just in the corner of my mixing box. I forgot to hold the mould in a oblique way, and got a huge bubble (patched with base resin on the picture below):
--
Finally, I managed the color mixing technique. The secret is "not too much, but enough" :). And vary the way of pouring to feed alternatively different colors.
So, I made a series of 4 great boccies. For sure, I gave her each a little name.
The Limerina:
 |  |
with a patch however:
The Strawberry&Cream:
 |  |
The Boar Thigh:
 |  |
Windy Winter:
 |  |
 |  |
--
On the sound side, the best ones (the ones that are perfect for the fipple casting) sounds as good as an original Bocarina™, polypropylene version (the sharper one). The ones with uneven fipple (the ones on which I didn't perfectly glued the insert) sound correct, but a bit "windy.
And now, the family:
To be continued!
-----
On the same topic :
- Moulding and Casting - Part 1: hard silicone
- Moulding and Casting - Part 2: casting urethane
- Moulding and Casting - Part 3: low temp alloys
- Moulding and Casting - Part 4: soft silicone
- Moulding and Casting - Part 5: casting Acrylic
----
Job te Pas on Dutch TV
Yesterday, I noticed an uncommon peek in the blog stats - 437 visits coming from the Netherlands - and I was not able to understand it. Now, I know! It was the result of the appearance on Dutch TV of a t-shirt on which was printed "noseflute.org"!
Mr. Maikel Mei just sent me this info (thanks to him!): a documentary about Mr. Job te Pas and his wife on the Dutch TV. It's a nice 5 mn long documentary, in which the nose flutist presents our noble instrument, from his living room... and he wears a t-shirt he had made printed with the blog address (Thank you Job, successful communication operation!)
Thanks to Maikel's translation, I am able to tell that Job explains that nose flutes should replace recorders (at school, I suppose), explains how to play the instrument, deals with quality of playing... Then the couple ride their tandem bike to a school to promote nose fluting at its gate. Funny and interesting!
Check and enjoy:
Mr. Maikel Mei just sent me this info (thanks to him!): a documentary about Mr. Job te Pas and his wife on the Dutch TV. It's a nice 5 mn long documentary, in which the nose flutist presents our noble instrument, from his living room... and he wears a t-shirt he had made printed with the blog address (Thank you Job, successful communication operation!)
Thanks to Maikel's translation, I am able to tell that Job explains that nose flutes should replace recorders (at school, I suppose), explains how to play the instrument, deals with quality of playing... Then the couple ride their tandem bike to a school to promote nose fluting at its gate. Funny and interesting!
Check and enjoy:
Dec 20, 2012
Ode to Joy, finally!
It's been some time now, that Sensei Mosurin, Master Kato Hideo, and their nose flute association have been working on a polyphonic and collectiver version of the Ode to Joy. We already published the different parts there.
Here is rehearsal video, found on 1968fuu Youtube channel. And... it sounds great!!
Here is rehearsal video, found on 1968fuu Youtube channel. And... it sounds great!!
Dec 19, 2012
Moulding and Casting - Part 1: hard silicone
It's a long time I've been wanting to experiment with casting nose flutes. As a model, I chose a Bocarina™, because I love those babies, because they are easy to disassemble and because they are produced by ABS injection... in a mould.
My goal is not to forge a Bocarina™, and certainly not to make a market with that (anyway, moulding and casting is much more expensive that buying the original nose flute!). Chris Schuermans had authorized me to experiment with a mould. Indeed, my goal is purely recreational.
Moulding and Casting - Part 1: Hard silicone
Well, the first thing to do for casting an object is to create a mould. I have a correct stock of silicones and resins that are at their conservation limit date, so it was the right moment.
First, I disassembled a Bocarina™, by tapping the insert out with a small mallet.
Then I removed the salient sliders of the insert, and clogged the concave parts of the body, with Fimo clay.
I prepared the body for the casting of a 2 parts mould:
I cut some tin sheet to build a box with a bottom with punched holes...
... and prepare a base for the Bocarina™ with soft clay.
Finally, silicone! I used a RTV silicone, added some silicone oil for fluidity, and cast it over the nose flute.
After some hours, I was able to unmould, thanks to the holes of the bottom of the box, and got a perfect imprint.
Then, cutting the air ducts, necessary to avoid big bubbles, and applying some talcum powder to absorb possible greasy residues.
Finally, I coated the first part with vaseline, and placed the Bocarina™ back, after having removed the adhesive tape.
I casted the second part, and placed a little sign to mark a side.
So, I obtained a (almost) perfect mould (no bubbles). I finally cut the salient "negative" parts of the air ducts, and applied talcum on both parts of the mould. Ready!
To be continued!
-----
On the same topic :
- Moulding and Casting - Part 1: hard silicone
- Moulding and Casting - Part 2: casting urethane
- Moulding and Casting - Part 3: low temp alloys
- Moulding and Casting - Part 4: soft silicone
- Moulding and Casting - Part 5: casting Acrylic
----
My goal is not to forge a Bocarina™, and certainly not to make a market with that (anyway, moulding and casting is much more expensive that buying the original nose flute!). Chris Schuermans had authorized me to experiment with a mould. Indeed, my goal is purely recreational.
Moulding and Casting - Part 1: Hard silicone
Well, the first thing to do for casting an object is to create a mould. I have a correct stock of silicones and resins that are at their conservation limit date, so it was the right moment.
First, I disassembled a Bocarina™, by tapping the insert out with a small mallet.
Then I removed the salient sliders of the insert, and clogged the concave parts of the body, with Fimo clay.
 |  |
I prepared the body for the casting of a 2 parts mould:
I cut some tin sheet to build a box with a bottom with punched holes...
 |  |
Finally, silicone! I used a RTV silicone, added some silicone oil for fluidity, and cast it over the nose flute.
 |  |
After some hours, I was able to unmould, thanks to the holes of the bottom of the box, and got a perfect imprint.
 |  |
Then, cutting the air ducts, necessary to avoid big bubbles, and applying some talcum powder to absorb possible greasy residues.
 |  |
I casted the second part, and placed a little sign to mark a side.
So, I obtained a (almost) perfect mould (no bubbles). I finally cut the salient "negative" parts of the air ducts, and applied talcum on both parts of the mould. Ready!
To be continued!
-----
On the same topic :
- Moulding and Casting - Part 1: hard silicone
- Moulding and Casting - Part 2: casting urethane
- Moulding and Casting - Part 3: low temp alloys
- Moulding and Casting - Part 4: soft silicone
- Moulding and Casting - Part 5: casting Acrylic
----
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