Turn a used Christmas tree into a Didgeridoo

A didgeridoo is a primitive aboriginal wind instrument. If you are unfamiliar with what they are or how they work, you can learn more about them here.

Last winter when I was taking down our Christmas tree, I decided to save the trunk just in case I came up with something to make out of it. I trimmed off all the branches and stuck the bare trunk in the corner of my garage. It sat there drying out for almost eight months waiting for me to come up with a good project for it.

I eventually decided to try to turn it into a didgeridoo. This ended up being a fun, challenging project, and I was happy with the results. Here are the details.

Step 1: Acquire a used tree

For most traditional-Christmas-celebrating people, acquiring a used tree should be easy.

For everyone else, check around your neighborhood after Christmas. Really, any type of appropriately-sized tree or large tree branch should work for this project. I believe this particular tree was a noble fir.

You can see this actual tree in action in the background of the intro pictures in this instructable.

Comments

[elisegc]

This is so cool!!! Thanks for sharing.

[carlfal]

Seamster,
Thank you for your interesting approach to repurposing a christmas tree into a didgeridoo.
I have been building didges for many years. Part of my experience is that you have to be really careful with what you make your mouthpieces out of. Some materials can be toxic over a period of time without you knowing. Since I am always looking for temperature stable mouthypiece materials, I contacted the manufacturer of SUGRU. I am pasting my inquiry and their responses here:
Sugru,
I recently saw a design for making a didgeridoo using Sugru as the mouthpiece. I have been making didges for many years using the traditional beeswax method. A problem being that beeswax deforms when playing on a hot day. My question is: Since people are doing Surgu to make more permanent mouthpieces, is there anything in the formula that could be potentially toxic especially since saliva ( ingested in small amounts while playing ) and lips come into hard contact with the Sugru? This is a serious issue. Lots of people seem to be starting to use this technique to construct mouthpieces. Please help the digdin’ community stay safe.
Thank you,
Carl Fallik
[e-mail]
____________________________________

Hi Carl


Thanks for the email, I totally understand your concern. I've heard of this use of sugru, but it is something we are not yet able to endorse. We don't have knowledge of anything that would make sugru harmful to the user, though in it's un-cured state we've seen very rare cases of skin irritation. But the main point is that sugru has not been tested for food safety.
It seems like a great application for sugru, but **until it has been tested and certified food-safe we can't recommend sugru for a didgeridoo mouthpiece.**
Did you see a photo of this use on our website? I had a thorough search, but couldn't track it down.
Let me know if you've any more questions or concerns!
All the best
Cameron
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yours in digi'n friendship,
Carl

[seamster]

Very interesting! Thank you for posting this. Are there really "lots of people" using Sugru for didge mouthpieces? I thought it was a good use for the stuff, and I haven't had any adverse reactions to it yet. Nice work, let me know if you come across any more info.

[caitlinsdad]

Very nice! You live dangerously, balancing a paint can on top to use as a clamp. I might have to try it with using this giant 36" drill bit extender, one used by electricians to run holes through walls to fish the wire through. Slicing the whole thing in half with a bandsaw would just be cheating.

[carlfal]

Here is the thing about spade bits and extenders: I have tried this with the help of a fellow didge maker and clamps to stabilize the shaft. I every case, the bit "wanders" to the outside damaging the shell you are trying to create. This is what the bit and extender do. It is the nature of the beast. Never got a shaft longer than 6". Gave up and went to splitting which has worked very well. My best.

[8footape]

every year i think of doing this after christmas i love the idea of recycling christmas trees into didjs. this is an intresting method but it has extremly low strength because of the joints and will break eventualy when it falls over and it will. trust me they all fall. this is a great example of making do, and getting the job done with comon tools everone or almost everyone has.

[seamster]

You are exactly right, and I was aware of the weakness of the joints.

I considered shooting a few small brads into each section to attach it to the one below it, and then filing the holes with putty. I didn't like the idea as the marks would still show, but I may go ahead and do it just to strengthen the whole thing.

[carlfal]

I have made the joints much stronger by putting a thin wood "sleeve" inside the didge.
If you do it right (this is hard to do) Glue only one side of the sleeve and you can take to didge apart for travel. It works, I've done it.

[8footape]

honestly i wouldnt go with brads. the strongest and easiets thing you can do at this point to strengthen the whole piece significantly would be a light layer of fiberglass wraped around the entire didj.otherwise anything else that you could of done to really strengthen your christmas tree didj really probably needed to be during construction. 3 -4 hard wood dowel pegs glued into every section druing assembly would have added a tremendous amount of strength. drill a 1-2" inch deep hole in each piece with matching holes on the other one glue the peg in and assemble. or you could have cut veritcal slots in each section so it looks like the end of a tinker toy, and put vertical strips of wood in the slots. contratsting wood could look amazing with this.

[seamster]

Nice ideas. I like the dowel idea the best. Might use that next time. Thanks!

[piperjon]

I like the idea of dowels, very much a stronger bond. Alternatively, you could rev up your bandsaw (everyone has one, right?), and do some dovetailing. But that's of course only if you want to increase the time and difficulty of your project by like a million percent! - Pj

[seamster]

I don't have a bandsaw... are you giving one away?

[airsoftbeast40]

QUESTION: Do you have to wait for the tree to dry out before you make the didgeridoo? Becasue i really want to do this NOW haha
Btw this is awesome! Thanks for the idea

[I am in the shed!]

Excellent! I would have mixed up the pieces and spent hours getting the order and direction right again - respect! - Now get the paints out and go aboriginal on it :).
Nice table top... real oak?

[seamster]

Thanks!

The table top you see is an old oak-veneered door. Old doors make great table tops!

[splazem]

I've actually used one before, they're a blast!

[jamiec53]

Still got the inside of my christmas tree from this year - seems like had the same thought of using the inside of one for a project! Great instructable by the way!

[seamster]

I'm trying to figure out what to do with my tree from this past Christmas too! (This project was from Christmas Tree '09).

I even gathered up some trees from my neighbors, so I've got a little stockpile of Christmas tree trunks in the garage. They're just waiting for me to come up with the right project! Have you got any great ideas for yours?

[jamiec53]

Not anything in particular...
Might try and make a didgeridoo, that looks quite fun.
Maybe some kind of staff?
Although I'm not sure that my tree is thick enough for a lot of things, and the size varies along the whole length so... We'll see.

[Diaqon]

Could you post a short vid. Demonstrating the sound you got from this? Thanks

[seamster]

Already there... step 15. It sounded pretty good, I thought. Let me know what you think!

[ilpug]

you could uses pins to hold the sections together better. other than that, awesome idea. put designs on it.

[chapa-de-frente]

good stuff, ima make one too!

[legless]

I was just thinking that in the main photo it looks like you are smoking an enormous spliff.

[seamster]

I wondered if anyone would think I was smoking something...

I hoped my puffed-out cheeks would give away the fact that I was exhaling, not inhaling. Hmmm. Oh well.

[haventmadeabombyet]

I've always made do with a 3/4" PVC pipe, but this looks much cooler.

[legless]

I think a 3/4" pipe would sound pretty much like a dog breaking wind. You need a bigger hole in the middle to get a decent tone and your lips should pretty much fit into it to allow them to vibrate properly..

[haventmadeabombyet]

My mistake, I meant 1 1/4" pipe (the interior diameter is closer to 1 3/8'). It's not ideal, but it sounds just fine.

[ErisKSC]

Nice dooni, it looks alot more tapered than many i've seen, but they come in all the shapes and sizes mother nature had to offer. I like that you've kept it natural, there is ALOT of tradition/rules associated with the dooni, and the designs painted on them are pretty significant, without uinderstanding why they paint them there, i don't see any point in aping it. I have a good friend who is an absolute genius on the dooni, he travels all over the outback playing professionally he told me that you don't learn to play dooni, the dooni learns to play you... (trite i know, but you've gotta meet some of the trad players to understand what i mean)

[seamster]

Thank you very much!

[scarecreaux]

This is really awesome. I tried to make one once out of bamboo, but it sounded more like a dying calf in a hail storm. Thanks for a very thorough instructable.

[seamster]

Dying calf in a hail storm? Holy cow!!

[piperjon]

Bah-DOOMP! :-)

[Terivia]

Is the mouthpeice just a ring of putty, to make your lips feel better?

[seamster]

No, it's this stuff called Sugru. I've got a link included in the instructable.

It's a mold-able rubbery stuff that cures to a hard rubber finish. It's there to help create a nice seal for when you are playing. Traditional didgeridoos use beeswax. I had some sugru, so that's what I used.

[Terivia]

kk, thank you

[zach0318]

if i remember correctly the reason that eucalyptis branches from oz wrork as digeridoos is because the centers are hollowed out by termites. the termites don't work cleanly and leave little tunnels into the walls of the wood, which s what causes all of the groovy overtones, and such. so if you made one that was not a perfect hollow cylinder all the way through it should give it a good sound. plus it would be easier than trying to make it perfect...

[seamster]

I believe you are correct. Another person commented that on his homemade didges he makes grooves and things inside which help achieve those funky tones. Good comment, thank you!

[SinAmos]

Thank you. This is really the greatest idea ever.

[seamster]

Thanks!