Steel Tube Chimes for Kids
Intro: Steel Tube Chimes for Kids
This instructable is setup for a teacher so in the steps i'll talk about the sections as they would appear from class to class with your students. I'll throw in lots of tips and tricks that i've learned (the hard way) so that your kids will have success!
Learning Objectives:
-The students will learn and apply measuring using the fractional scale.
-Once measuring is mastered the students will use it to construct a project.
-The student shall learn to safely use files, hacksaw and the drill press.
-The student will learn than use the method required to safely hammer shape sheet aluminum.
-The student shall demonstrate the safe use of aviation snips with sheet aluminum.
Materials: (per student)
-About 3 feet of 1/2" ID 1/16" wall steel pipe.
-A 5" square piece of thin aluminum...about 20 Guage
-A piece of 3" by 5" piece of thin aluminum.
-A 1" square piece of wood... hard wood is best.
-6' of strong string.
-2 small beads.
Tools:
-Hacksaw.
-Files... smooth flat and smooth small round.
-Centerpunch and hammer.
-Drill press with 1/8" drill bit.
-Aviation snips.
-Hammers with concave form made of wood. (details later)
Vocabulary:
-wave length
-resonance
-tune
-aluminum
-steel
Submitted by HD Stafford Middle School for the Instructables Sponsorship Program
STEP 1: Cutting Out the Tube
Refer to the table i've included with the notes, cutting lengths and drill points. Explain to the kids that the chimes sound best with different length tubes. I always have a kid or two who is a musician so i ask which 3 notes sound good together and write them on the board... even better, ask the student to write the notes on the board. ENABLE the kiddies I say... :-)
The hacksaw is the next tool you need. Make sure you teach the kids about hacksawing... I find that they tend to do a couple of things that make it tough...
-They CRAM the saw in. Tell them to almost lift the saw so the teeth just float over the surface.
-They use just a tiny bit of the blade... teach them to use the whole blade from end to end. This will help with the next common problem...
-Kids have a tough time keeping the saw straight. They need to make sure that they hold the handle in the hand they write with and not stand to the side of the saw... Keeping the blade straight up and down perpendicular to the workpiece.
Once you've cut out one piece show the kids how to measure the hanging point. Now is a really good time to demonstrate how important the hanging point is... Just hold the pipe exactly on the hanging mark you made and tap it with a piece of steel. It should resonate and sound really good. Now move your fingers down about 1/2" and tap again. It should sound really flat and terrible. The kids love this!
Get the kids to cut out 3 pipes and mark the hanging point with a sharpie.
Demonstrate using the flat smooth file to remove all the burrs. Use a smooth rat-tail file to smooth the insides.
STEP 2: Drill the Holes
Demonstrate centerpunching the pipe where the kids made the mark for the hanging point. I'd suggest using a vice that is closed enough (about 3/8") so that the pipe rests on it and is cradled rather than clamping it down. This way the kids can get a nice deep centerpunch. Encourage the kids to work in pairs... one holds the pipe while the other punches.
Set up the pipe in the holder i mentioned above. Emphasize the importance of clamping materials down well. I had a kid once who didn't clamp a piece of steel well. As the drill just poked through the bottom it grabbed the steel and turned it into a lethal spinning piece of death. (i usually exaggerate at this point to make it clear... nothing like hyperbole to make a kid cautious) I also insert the drill bit as far as i can... breaks less that way. Don't buy cheap ones either.. they like to shatter and fly around.
Get the kids to drill all three holes than file all the burrs off. If they don't do it well the hanging string will cut through in no time.
STEP 3: The Topcap
The way to lay it out with a compass is to first draw 2 lines... corner to corner. Centerpunch where they intersect. Open the compass to 2.5" and draw a circle that is about 5" in diameter.
The other option is to do the circle yourself with the holes marked and ready to go. I photocopy the circle 4 times , cut them out, arrange them on a sheet of paper than copy the 4 at once at about 10 pages... lots for 2-3 classes if they re-use them.
I demonstrate cutting out the circle, tracing it onto the aluminum than center punching the holes. Make sure the kids understand to do this carefully... Especially the center hole... If it is out to much the chimes won't balance.
Once the holes are centerpunched I set up the kids on a 1/8" hole punch... A Whitney punch works well. You can use a drill press but the kids need to know how important it is to clamp the circle down... Drill bits grab at the end of the cut and can spin pieces.
I teach the kids to draw file next. I make sure they clamp the piece close to the vice so it doesn't screech. Demonstrate the horrible noise for the class... they LOVE it. Make sure the edges are flat and not sharpened... sometimes they end up with this while filing enthusiastically...
The next step is not a "must do" but it is really a good thing to do. Use a chisel and rough sandpaper to cut a small concave into a block of wood. I use woodblocks that I spun in the wood lathe... The concave is about 1/2" deep with a 3" diameter. Check out the photo. Put on some big ear muffs and unleash the kids on the forms with their pieces of round aluminum. Encourage them to hold the piece firmly and do lots of small gentle taps. Some kids will wail at the form with both hands on the hammer... this will ruin the form... a smooth surface will mean a smooth curve. I tell the kids about the '62 Aston Martin which were hand beaten and lovely cars. Some kids will turn out some really beautiful pieces. If they have the patience. :-)
STEP 4: The Sail
Now really is a good time to teach the kids about design... For example, part of the challenge is to design something that will capture the wind the best so thin small sails won't work... What can the kids do to make the design they like work? Another thing kids do is come up with really complicated designs. They have a rough idea of what they can cut so what changes can they make to the design to keep it the same essentially but something they are capable of. You can talk about symmetry.. having a design that is not symmetrical is fine but it has to be obvious or the project will just look like a mistake... uneven!
Encourage ideas... drawing lots of different ideas on the board... taking suggestions and trying them out... have kids come up and draw on the board to illustrate what they are trying to say... have kids swap pages and make suggestions or ask questions to clarify ideas...nothing is "wrong"!
Have the kids decide on a design, check with you than cut and trace the design onto aluminum using a sharpie. Aviation snips are great to use for the cutting.
Make sure the kids punch a hole for the sail to hang from. You can use a drill press but it can be sketchy with kids... make sure they clamp the piece down really well.
STEP 5: The Striker
STEP 6: Stringing on the Pipes
Mix up a batch of 5 minute epoxy in small amounts and apply small dabs to all of the hole/string contact points and the knots. I would suggest you do this for the kids... just get them to come up in groups with pipes attached and ready to go. I find I save tons of epoxy if I do this myself.
STEP 7: Stringing on the Sail
-Tie the string to the sail.
-Pull the string through the topcap and note where the string meets the top cap with the sail about 5" below the longest pipe. Use a sharpie to mark this spot. Without moving this position also mark the approximate middle of the pipes. This will be the striker spot so be sure it will touch all of the pipes.
-Now pull the string out from the topcap and the striker. Thread on a bead. Tie this bead on where you made the second mark with the sharpie. I only do one loop for the knot... This way it can be adjusted later.
-Thread on the striker... it will stop at the bead you just tied on.
-Thread on the second bead. Tie it where you made the first mark with a sharpie.
-Thread the string through the topcap and make a loop with the extra string.
Once you've got everything together you can loosen the knots and move the beads around so the sail will hang 3-5" below the longest pipe and the striker hits all 3 pipes. Once its perfect you can dab 5 minute epoxy on all the knots.
STEP 8: Wrapping It All Up
This is my gauge for project success... if lots of projects are left behind i know that it is not working and the kids don't like it. Simple!
An instructables reader suggested this link...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/windchimeconstruction/
Thanks!
Here is a marking rubric for the project. If you want to get all fancy its an example of criterion referenced assessment. Nice to know all the years in university are not going completely to waste... :-)
In our district we cannot mark in a subjective way. Projects have to be marked objectively which is really tough in our area. This marking sheet make it easier, hopefully. I also always give students the chance to fix or improve things and re-submit for a better mark. This marking sheet gives the student a clear picture of what the grade looks like. A mark really should NOT be a surprise for a kid.
Chimes Marking Sheet
NAME:_________________________DIV:__________________MARK/60
AREA
0-10
11-15
16-20
Tube Measuring
Tubes not cut to 3 different lengths. Holes not cut to spot determined by tube length. No resonance
Tubes cut to 3 lengths within 10% of specified sizes. Holes drilled all within 10% of specified
Tubes cut 3 sizes perfectly with 3 noteslisted on board. Holes drilled exactly as specified by tube length.
Top Cap and Sail
Cut roughly, topcap not round, holes missing or uneven, unfiled.
Holes evenly spaced on topcap, edges smooth but not perfect. Sail is smoothly cut and filed.
Holes perfectly spaced and smooth, edges filed. Topcap round and perfect. Sail exactly like drawing.
Stringing
Pipes all over, sail touching pipes or more than 6” below. Striker missing a pipe.
Pipes even at top edge but not perfect.
Sail within spec. knots tied off but rough.
Pipes exactly the same distance from topcap. Striker positioned in average middle of pipes. Sail exactly 3-5” Knots tied off and trimmed perfectly.
19 Comments
stumitch 9 years ago
HI to anyone who has asked questions about this project. Sorry for the long reply but i am teaching for the year in Rwanda, East Africa and web access is a bit slow. I will try to answer some questions...
i have used steel and copper but have seen PVC pipes used
The windway is created by the gap caused by the slot in the inside tube being sandwiched between the outside sleeve and inside plug.
the notes were suggested to me from a guitar teacher who uses the notes in chord ( I think)
The pipe and node positions are fond using math. i found them online at one point and have been using them since.
Have fun!
-Stu
maximzodal 9 years ago
The Yahoo windchime group is defunct. For great information on all aspects of building and understanding the science behind them see:
http://home.fuse.net/engineering/Chimes.htm
or
https://sites.google.com/site/chuckchimes/
Both great sites
gravityisweak 9 years ago
I also meant to ask: How did you figure out what length of pipes gave you each specific note?
gravityisweak 9 years ago
You mention asking the kids about what notes go nicely together. But assuming I know nothing about that... What notes DO go together and what is a good way to know this?
maximzodal 12 years ago
In addition to the objectives you lay out, it opens all kinds of inquiries for the students as to what is going on, from the type of metal, steel vrs. aluminum, what difference varying the diameters of tubing will make, tube wall thickness, even some physics (why the hanging point is important), why certain combinations of musical notes are pleasing, etc.
In my experience, some of the kids will invariably want to go way beyond the scope of this project on their own. If so, they may find the yahoo windchime group interesting:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/windchimeconstruction/
stumitch 12 years ago
-stu
gravityisweak 9 years ago
Hmm it seems this group no longer exists. :(
Dream Dragon 12 years ago
Do you use anything OTHER than steel?
Brass, Copper, Aluminium etc might sound different, but may not work at all, what do you think?
unclesam 12 years ago
Unclesam
stumitch 12 years ago
thanks for the comments!
-stu
Mojo_JoJo 12 years ago
stumitch 12 years ago
-stu
Foxtrot70 12 years ago
stumitch 12 years ago
Foxtrot70 12 years ago
mshield 12 years ago
stumitch 12 years ago
skiedra 12 years ago
stumitch 12 years ago