I have a branch flute, and I know who made it ... but I've always wanted to make my own, and I'll probably make several.

I love the Colorado Front Range.  I have an aspen walking stick I got in that area.  And I want at least one aspen flute as well.  I have some aspen I bought, but it's from Wisconsin (!).  Nothing against Wisconsin, but the front range of the Rockies is special to me. Wisconsin will not do for this.  So I needed some front range aspen.

A recent trip out there took me near a spot I'd camped in the National Forest about 25 years ago. This time I was with other people - it wasn't my trip, I was just tagging along, but when I realized how close I'd be to that area and that it is legal to gather it for firewood in that area (lots of camping) AND ... the fires that swept through a few years ago had definitely killed a bunch of trees.  Lots of dead wood, some of it up off the ground still, and dried.

I had about 40 minutes to find some. Not completely thrilled with what I found, I needed longer, but I got a few pieces. One I'm going to mill down and make a nice "professional" looking flute, but I got about 3 pieces suitable for branch flutes.  I grabbed a shorter one and decided to try my luck on it first.  Going for about an A (because it'll be about the right length for that).

I'm also a woodcarver, so I have some tools.  Split the branch with a scroll saw, and made the chambers with gouges.  I'm gluing it back together now.  We'll see how this goes.

I've seen some flutes where the top of it is flattened at an "upward" slant ... the slant going up toward the sound hole.  I know we want the air coming out of the track to hit the splitting edge ... and I wonder if people do this to help ensure that the track is going "up", and since the sound hole is a bit higher than the track it would hit that edge better.  But I don't know.  Most of the flutes I've seen it's a flat track parallel with the top of the rest of the flute, and you can get them to work just fine. All my bought flutes and the two I made have flat tracks.  But could it be better?

I did burn the inside... a lot of people do that. I understand it helps with moisture issues and also makes it smoother (though I understand that bit might not be as important as some people think) ... it had fit together very well before I torched the inside, but the heat warped the wood, so I'm having to clamp the heck out if it in 2 directions to get it to glue back straight. Wish me luck.

  
Anyway ... here's some progress on my first branch flute -- aspen. 

Starting my first branch flute