Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Toffe · 2006-09-21 14:33:30

I'm making a really big, wide flute.
But I found out the hard way the scale for placing the holes is completely different when working with this big flutes. It's a sideblown flute that pretty much keeps the optimal 1:23 ratio.

After drilling some holes I realized that this will take some experimenting. But how do I fill up my wrongly made holes in a good manner?
I tried sawdust and glue for one flute, but it did'nt really do the trick, also it was hard to work with it.

A bit down in thies thread http://www.shakuhachiforum.com/viewtopic.php?id=390 there's some pictures of plugged holes. It looks really good.

Please fill me in on your ideas.

// Chris

gmiller · 2006-09-21 15:24:01

Try a two-part epoxy putty. Comes in stick form; slice off what you need, mix with your fingers and fill. You might want to insert a dowel into the bore so you have something to push against and also keep excess putty out of the bore. the excess is easily filed, sanded, etc....

Mujitsu · 2006-09-21 16:10:10

Toffe wrote:
A bit down in thies thread http://www.shakuhachiforum.com/viewtopic.php?id=390 there's some pictures of plugged holes.

Chris,

The holes on that flute were filled with super-glue and sawdust. First, tape the hole from the inside of the bore. To tape the hole, lick the back of a small piece of tape. Place the wet side on the end of a long curved split bamboo stick or dowel. Carefully insert the stick in the bore. Press the sticky side of the tape up against the hole. Make sure it's sealed. (It's hard to do this without looking silly!) Pour a thin layer of sawdust in the hole. Add a few drops of super-glue. Be careful with the fumes. Repeat 3 or 4 times until the hole is filled. File hole smooth. Remove tape in the bore with a rasp. Sand bore if needed. Sometimes it's perfectly rounded and flush with the bore.

I've also used urushi paste, fix-all, bondo and epoxy as George mentioned. They all seem to work fine as well. I always thought a bamboo plug would look good!

Good luck with the big flutes!

Ken

philthefluter · 2006-09-22 13:39:37

I use epoxy resin and bamboo sawdust. I cover the inside with a dowel made of balsa wood. Tape or a flexible foam/bubble wrap can be wrapped around to ensure a tight fit. It is very easy to remove the dowel and then sand the inside around the hole. Gambatte yo!.

Toffe · 2006-10-02 16:18:17

Thanks for your replies..
I just went and got a tube of chemical wood. A kind of plastic padding that works just as wood. It looks, feels and appear as wood and you can drill, file and sand it.
I'll see if it's any good...

Toffe · 2006-10-08 15:21:29

Wow.. that chemical wood did great!
You can hardly see where the hole was. It comes in different finishes: Natural, Pine, Oak etc.
Great stuff.

Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

#1 2006-09-21 14:33:30

Filling up holes

#2 2006-09-21 15:24:01

Re: Filling up holes

#3 2006-09-21 16:10:10

Re: Filling up holes

Toffe wrote:

#4 2006-09-22 13:39:37

Re: Filling up holes

#5 2006-10-02 16:18:17

Re: Filling up holes

#6 2006-10-08 15:21:29

Re: Filling up holes

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