Eagle Scout Project

     These 3 instruments were donated to a local Boys and Girls Club in my area as part of my Eagle Scout Project. The first one to the left is a 2 octave xylophone created out of copper pipe. The middle instrument is a makeshift drumset out of several pots, pans, and other noisemakers I found. The furthest one is a 2 octave PVC pipe instrument. The Xylophone and PVC Instrument only includes the E Major scale.

     Here's the work station after our first strip to the store. You can see the sections of PVC pipe and copper pipe bought. The piping in the middle was recycled from my first PVC Instrument.

     Tuning the notes went fast, as all the notes went straight down. Here's the full set I used.
     Drilling the holes for the pipes. Since we used a scale and not the full chromatic set, I left the notes in a straight line. I also used the entire board instead of cutting some off at the ends to give it more support.

     The assembled instrument before touch ups. It ended up being much taller than I anticipated. I made it as low as possible to make the Low E a straight pipe.

     Here are the notes for the xylophone after cutting. The holes are drilled at the nodal points, which is approximately 1/4 of the way in from the edge on both sides. The nodal point is the point where no vibrations are made, and thus no sound. These holes allow me to support the notes later. A drill press was used to drill the holes.

     The complete set of notes all stringed together. Tuning this set was challenging because very small variations can have a much larger impact on pitch than on the PVC pipe. I used a belt sander to shave off the little bits I needed to tune it.

     I used stair treads at the bottom of the bases for a flat support plane. I also added in cross supports for more structure. After that, a black paint job completes it.

     I don't have any pictures of the "drum set" construction, but that wasn't very complicated. I am very satisfied with this project. It was great fun to construct, and even more fun to play. It was sad giving away my hard work, but I know that its in good hands.