Trumpet

[Eric Gourieux]

I know it's not a clever title, but it is what it is. I finally made up my mind to check a trumpet off of my bucket list. My son, daughter and I all have played trumpet, so I always wanted to see if I could make a functioning trumpet out of wood. I saw one online a few years ago made by George King from the UK and determined to make one "some day". Once I got started, I contacted Mr. King and he kindly gave me a few tips. In a recent issue of American Woodturner magazine, there was an article about turning a french horn. I was already a few weeks into the process when the article came out, but it was of particular interest to me at the time.

The valves and tuning slides are fully functional.

Woods are hard maple and African blackwood. The outside sleeve and inside of the valves are AB. The tops of the valves are mammoth ivory. The only non-wood, non-turned pieces are the springs and spring valve guides. Finish is rattle can lacquer


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[Doug Ladendorf]

Pretty darned impressive Eric! You should post a video of playing it!

Doug

[Mel Fulks]

Agree with Doug! The first thing I've seen in years that made me think of the Ripley ,Believe it or Not Museums. Quite an accomplishment.

[Wendell Steele]

That is awesome.

[John Keeton]

Incredible work, Eric! One of those "how did he do that" things. And, some beautiful maple, too. Exceptional!

[Tony De Masi]

That is an exceptional piece of work. I would stand that next to my Bach Strado any day.

[Roger Chandler]

In my earlier life I played trumpet, French horn and at times the Barritone Horn, as was needed by the symphony, so I can appreciate this from both a musicians viewpoint as well as a woodworker. Absolutely exceptional, Eric. Just to make one, but having it functional is a remarkable achievement!

May I ask how the tone of this is compared to a brass instrument? I would suppose that it would have a more muted tone, as the wood would not give the resonance of the metal.....is that correct?

Awesome, Eric!!!

[David Delo]

Blue ribbon territory Eric. Really cool piece executed well.

[daryl moses]

Amazing!! Beautiful work!

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Eric, You can be proud of this accomplishment. Well done. Not many turners would have even attempted this project.

[Mark Greenbaum]

How on Earth were the 180 degree tube turns made?

BTW: Awesome. I guess a clarinet would be a piece of cake, right?

[William C Rogers]

Priceless!!!! Very beautiful. Incredible work.

[Steve Arnold]

Just when I thought I had seen everything...

[Dick Mahany]

Beautiful and spectacular work. The attention to detail and wood figure are amazing.

[Dick Strauss]

How on Earth were the 180 degree tube turns made?

BTW: Awesome. I guess a clarinet would be a piece of cake, right?

Think of making a u shaped circlular turning...then split the circle in half...then glue the two u-shaped halves together to make one u-shaped pipe.

Eric,
You did a fantastic job on this piece! Trying to get everything to match size wise, 20-45 degree bends, etc, was not easy. The wood is beautiful and so is your execution! W@W

[Steve Schlumpf]

Very impressive! Never seen anything like it! Thanks for sharing!!

[John K Jordan]

Fantastic!

i play trumpet and horn and was also intrigued by the recent article about the wooden french horn. I don't think I have enough years left to make one myself! I did wonder if lignum vitae would be good for valves.

Thank you for posting. Please post more pictures - do you have some of the work in progress?

[Ken Glass]

Eric,
Color me thoroughly impressed. Amazing work and very beautiful Wood also. It must have taken a lot of planning and time to produce a working instrument like this one. Just WOW!!

[John K Jordan]

I forgot to suggest: this belongs in the magazine! You have to at least send them pictures.

[Jeramie Johnson]

Damn...as others, I played one of these for a few years growing up. That looks much better than the brass one.....your seams are all hidden!

Exceptionally well done.

[John K Jordan]

BTW: Awesome. I guess a clarinet would be a piece of cake, right?

The valves on a clarinet (or sax or flute) might send you to the insane asylum!

If building for the sound, I think I'd make something without valves at all!

Just for fun, I built this indian spirit flute/whistle into a magic wand, played here by Billy Whitefox:
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JKJ

[Eric Gourieux]

Thanks to all for the kind words. I'll work on a video and let you when it's done. The "U" turns are turned as a circle, cut in half and glued back together. Here are some pics of the process. I had to make several jigs in the process in order to get the angles correct for valve attachment as well as drilling out the valve holes.

I didn't take a lot of pictures of the process, but here are a few (I don't know how to rotate the pics, so sorry about that). The first, third and fourth pics are the process of turning the "U" sections. I tried these several different ways and found this to be the best for me. First, I turned to the diameter that I wanted, then parted in half, turned away the inside of the tube from both halves and glued the 2 halves back together. Once the glue cured, I cut the hollowed circle in half creating the hollowed "U". Picure #2 is several of the pieces drying after spraying with lacquer.

[Lori Kleinberg]

Amazing piece of work Eric.

[Dick Mahany]

Eric,
I keep going back and looking at your pics. The more I review them, the more your detail blows me away.

I tried the trumpet for a short time, but didn't have the coordination, so I found the Trombone......Infinetly variable, much more forgiving than the Trumpet , perfectly suited me, so now I just have to think of how to turn those loooong tubes :)

[Len Mullin]

Wow, what an amazing bit of work. It's very impressive, and it's something to be very proud to have accomplished.
Len

[Wes Ramsey]

Eric,
I keep going back and looking at your pics. The more I review them, the more your detail blows me away.

I tried the trumpet for a short time, but didn't have the coordination, so I found the Trombone......Infinetly variable, much more forgiving than the Trumpet , perfectly suited me, so now I just have to think of how to turn those loooong tubes :)

Just a SWAG, but the long 'bone tubes would probably be made similar to how Eric did his, but you could use a drill bit instead of a gouge to hollow it. Then split the sections in half and overlap the joints by several inches so you didn't just have end grain glued to end grain.

Beautiful work Eric! I've never much had the urge to do something like that until now. Probably still won't do it, but at least it made the 'in-the-future-when-I-have-nothing-else-to-turn' list. I played French horn for many years, but these days I stick mostly to flat, wooden instruments strung with tiny metal wires constantly trying to pull the ends closer together. Much less of a challenge than those made of brass :)

[paul cottingham]

What an amazing piece of work!
How does it sound?

[John K Jordan]

Eric, how did you bore the long tubes? That seems difficult.

I have thought about making one too but it seemed so time consuming! Do you have a guess at the time it took? If I make one someday I might stick to a bugle. :-)

Thanks for the additional pictures. I have several musician friends and woodworking friends who are interested too. Woodturners always wonder how you made the curved tubes!

JKJ

[Eric Gourieux]

Eric, how did you bore the long tubes? That seems difficult.

I have thought about making one too but it seemed so time consuming! Do you have a guess at the time it took? If I make one someday I might stick to a bugle. :-)

Thanks for the additional pictures. I have several musician friends and woodworking friends who are interested too. Woodturners always wonder how you made the curved tubes!

JKJ

John, I just drilled out the long tubes with a long drill bit and then turned the outside to the desired diameter. The biggest challenge is to be sure the bit stays centered and doesn't wander. The bell was hollowed in the traditional manner. It's tedious, precise work but not that difficult. Lots of drilling and spindle work. I worked on the various parts (approximately 78 pieces) over a 2 month period. Knowing what I know now, I think I could produce another one over a few weeks.

[Dan Hintz]

Freaking... awesome... !

[Thomas Canfield]

Looks like you can play "taps" to that item on your bucket list. Excellent.

[Don Orr]

Outstanding! Great way to toot your own horn.