For a school project, we were assigned to create and perform a musical instrument to present to the Flinn company. We decided to make a flute out of PVC piping. After a little bit of research, we came up with a process that was fairly easy to follow and created a flute that didn't sound half bad! This Instructable will take you step by step on your way to creating a PVC flute.

Step 1: Materials

The materials need for making the flute are as follows:

1) PVC pipe of any size but I would recommend 1/2 or 3/4 inches inner diameter

2) Hot glue gun

3) Drill Press

4) Sand paper

5) A saw to cut the PVC pipe

6) Pencil and ruler for measurements

Step 2: Cutting PVC Pipe

For our flute we measure the PVC pipe at 48 cm and cut it with the saw. But know that the longer the PVC pipe is, the lower the flute will sound, and the shorter it is, the higher pitch it will be. This is because the shorter length of PVC gives the air less time to travel through. When cutting the pipe you can use a clamp to make it easier or do whatever way that help you the best. If you can make the cut as straight as possible this way you will do less sanding.

Step 3: Planning Out and Measurement

After you cut the 48 cm PVC pipe, and if you have words on your pipe what I did was use the sand paper to sand out all the words and this way make the pipe look good and smooth. Then you will need to do measurement, on one side I mark 6 holes that are 4 cm apart from each other. Then on the other side make a hole 7 cm from the end.

Step 4: Making the Flute

Now you will need to use the normal drill to make the hole through the pipe. I would recommend making a smaller hole first because this way if you want to make it bigger it would be easier but you cannot make it smaller again once you have cut it. Once all of your holes are cut, you can make the cap out of hot glue by just make a glop of glue that fit to the PVC hole. Put the cap over the end of the flute where the mouth hole is and play into the flute to ensure that you can get a sound out of it and you can reach all of the finger holes comfortably. Playing a flute will take practice so if its doesn't sound great at first just try more!

Step 5: Finishing Touches (Optional)

For a final step you can decorate your flute with colorful tape, sharpie or whatever way to make it look good. Make sure not to cover the flute holes. We decided to paint it and make creative design. Have fun making the flute!