Wind Chime Metal

[monte55]

Since the OP stated that he just got a NEW PLASMA cutter he wants to Cut out shapes, patterns, animals etc rather than make a Tube Chime, which can be made with a Hacksaw

He never said he wanted to cut out shapes. He made us aware of two
facts........he just got a plasma cutter and his wife also asked him to make
a wind chime for her. The fact that he would rather not use bamboo which
are tubes or wood which neither can be cut with a plasma cutter suggest
to me the type of chime he meant to make. The point I am trying to make is
there is no point to be made

[monte55]

I've used 1/2" EMT in the past and it worked fine. It's also a lot cheaper than SS or copper.

Hey Sporty.........I didn't mean they sound bad but. It really has to do with the sound one is looking for. I started with conduit but 3/4 " was the largest
I had. I also had some 1.125" refrigeration rigid copper used. I liked the sound a lot better. I spun the tubes and held a course grade of sandpaper on them
and moved quickly back and forth. It gave a nice crosshatch pattern, then I cleared them. One could also let them turn green.

[monte55]

he he....he he he.....he said: dong

AWWW C'MON!!! YOU GUYS WERE ALL THINKING IT!!!!!!!!! Oh, Nick, btw, I'm sure it matters what gauge was the copper tubing you used for your "dong?"
he he....he he he.....

OK.....dong......tinkle..............I get it

[jweller]

I saw some made form old ski poles which are typically thin wall aluminum.

[Bert]

Hey, I'm just blaming Nick for that one.....
I WOULD say, let's have a contest, but that wouldn't be good....too many subjective opinions.....What might sound good to me, may not sound good to others....Go to a store and look at their (or have wife look at them), find one she likes, then see what it's made out of......
good luck

[Daved]

The vast majority of windchimes I have seen in stores are made out of aluminum tubing. If you search for windchimes you will find more than you ever wanted to know. I know I did.

I even found some where the person made them out of something like 4" rigid conduit and they were in the 8-10' range. There are also formulas for cutting the length, harmonics, etc. Same for clapper size, material, etc.My tin ear can't tell the difference though over just hacking different lengths and slapping it together.

A couple of basics (if you are worring about technicalities) are the clapper should hit each tube in its midpoint and the hanging point for each tube (I think) is 32% down from the top of the tube.

Here is one I did out of SS tubing a few years back.

[Bert]

WOW!! Dave, that looks awesome!!! Now that I see your "flapper", I wonder how it would sound with a piece of corian??? I got some drops they were discarding for sink cutouts at the local counter top guys (wife wants to play with some to paint some artwork on....). Flappers from different materials gotta make the sound different too, eh?

[Daved]

Thanks for the compliment. Somebody gave me the SS tubing and it sat around for a few years waiting for me to make something out of it. Buy a $200 windchime vs make one for free was the motivation.

That 'clapper' is made out of something very similar to corian. I don't know what it is but it was a round disk that I bought at Woodcraft for a couple of bucks. Its about 3/8" thick. I put a stiff rod through it that is about 8" long with holes pierced in each end for the hanging lines (I braided up some fishing line)

I think corian would work just fine. I tried wood too but I wanted a more 'clangy' sound. If I remember right, the clapper should be about 1/4" away from the tubes when at rest.

[Bert]

Thanks for the tips
Again, nice job...........

[Broccoli1]

He never said he wanted to cut out shapes. He made us aware of two
facts........he just got a plasma cutter and his wife also asked him to make
a wind chime for her. The fact that he would rather not use bamboo which
are tubes or wood which neither can be cut with a plasma cutter suggest
to me the type of chime he meant to make. The point I am trying to make is
there is no point to be made

Doesn't look like our OP cares anyway.