Wedding present

[sailor55330]

Here's a set of windchimes I built for a family member's wedding present. Wife asked me to do it as the person getting married values hand made items much more than store bought. The chimes themselves are a bit large, which makes them unique. They are 2" aluminum pipe, the longest of which is 41-7/16" and there are 6 chimes. The wood top, striker, and windsail are Spalted Maple that started as scraps from Rockler. I used my jointer to get them flat and then glued up the resulting pieces to form a 10" circle for the top. The edge is a simple round over bit. The wood is stained cinnamon red and is finished with a clear outdoor high gloss varnish. You can't really tell, but after staining and finishing, the wood almost has a "shimmer" or luminescence to it. I stopped counting somewhere around 8 coats. I hand sanded the aluminum tubing with 320 and the 800grit wet to give them a "brushed" aluminum finish. All in all, I think they came out pretty good. The pics aren't the greatest, but hopefully you get the idea. As a musician, sound was important to me and I can honestly say the sustain is amazing---They ring for at least 2 mins after striking (I have to give credit to leehite.org as anything you could ever want to know about windchimes is there.

Definitely not up to the level of some on here, but given that this is the first time I've tried to actually glue up smaller pieces, I think it came out ok.

Thanks for looking.

[atgcpaul]

That looks great. I bet they sound great, too. What kind of chord do you use to hold it together?

[sailor55330]

That looks great. I bet they sound great, too. What kind of chord do you use to hold it together?

The chord is a cmaj7

The cord is a nylon twine I found at Walmart. Uv resistant and a single strand held my full body weight

[Black wallnut]

Nice project well done sailor! You have reminded me that I should do something like that. For the best sound how exact do the lengths of pipe need to be?

[sailor55330]

BW--I would recommend googling "lee hite wind chimes". There is more info there than you can imagine. It depends on material, pipe size, and chord. For the most part, about 1/16". It's actually pretty easy to get accurate cuts with a good tubing cutter

Thanks for the kind words

[Neal]

Awesome. May have to investigate something like this one of these days.

[leehljp]

I have long wanted to make my own. I have a set of copper ones about 1 1/2 in diameter and about 36 inches long for the longest - purchased years ago and love it. However I love the tone of the 2 inch aluminum ones that cost about $300.

Just read that you used nylon twine, which was a question that I had.

[dbhost]

Awesome! I was in too big of a hurry to snap photos before I went off with them, but a couple of years ago when my oldest brother remarried I made them a set of walnut and cork coasters, nowhere near as nice as your chimes. I hadn't ever thought of doing that... I have 3 nieces getting married this summer, I might just steal your idea and do wind chimes for each of them...

[BadeMillsap]

The chord is a cmaj7

Excellent!!!

And the chime is very well executed! Nice job!

[capncarl]

I want to copy a wind chime I saw at a local plantation that was made our of aluminum baseball bats of various sizes. The sound was really good but did not quite have the 2 minute dwell time of the ones made out of tubing. Alu bats can be picked up cheap at yard sales.

[Pappy]

I want to copy a wind chime I saw at a local plantation that was made our of aluminum baseball bats of various sizes. The sound was really good but did not quite have the 2 minute dwell time of the ones made out of tubing. Alu bats can be picked up cheap at yard sales.

One I saw that sticks in my mind was made from large brass casings, I'm guessing .50 or .60 cal. machine gun casings.

[Pappy]

The chord is a cmaj7

The cord is a nylon twine I found at Walmart. Uv resistant and a single strand held my full body weight

Thanks for the info. I was going to ask the same question. Guessing this stuff is in the craft area?

I have several chimes that have fallen apart and need to be revamped. Thinking of turning new tops and then restringing them. I found one made from old silver plated spoons and a fork while cleaning out some boxes yesterday that was my Mother's. I restrung it with fishing line but wasn't happy with the resulting knots.

Love the look of the wood you used!

[phrog]

"All in all, I think they came out pretty good." That is a great understatement. Those things are beautiful. You used cinnamon stain. What brand? I love that color. Did you adjust the tube lengths before are after sanding? I look forward to looking at the link you provided. Thanks.

[sailor55330]

Guys--you are too kind in your words. Thank you. The line was in the craft area . I was worried about the strength but a single strand of it actually held my body weight so no worries there I think

The stain and varnish was from Rockler--General Finishes. As for cutting the tubes that was done before stringing and then I built a simple jig to hold them while I drilled and sanded. The lines are fastened to a 1/8th brass rod that runs through the pipe and is sanded flush to the outside.

You guys only see the good but as I'm sure we all do, I only see what I could have done better (the goofs)