We recently caught up with customer Michael Sanders to see what he had been up to with SolidWorks. Michael Sanders Design work with highly respected instrument makers and craftsmen developing and manufacturing instrument components and developing new instruments, Over the next few weeks will look at three different projects Micheal worked on and how SolidWorks was a valuable asset to these projects. Today we take a look at...

Project 1: Simple Flute system for Paul Windridge

"The traditional way of developing a wooden flute is to use measurements from existing instruments and make reamers to shape the bore of the instrument. The bore of a flute has several different tapers to it, the mouthpiece end for example is parallel for the first 120mm then the tapers begin. It is in these tapers that the quality of sound can be greatly manipulated, raising or lowering the pitch of the note under the fingers or even making the sound of a particular note louder or softer. So designing the bore to give the right sound is a tedious process when you have to make reamers by hand and then once tested make a new set to improve on the sound."

How did SolidWorks Help?

"Using SolidWorks to model the bore was a great leap forward. Once the fundamental shape was established all we had to do was alter the control sketches and test the results. Our method of testing was to cut out the whole flute as two halves, split down the centreline, on a CNC router. The two halves were glued together and fitted to an existing head joint (mouthpiece) Any changes could then be made very easily within SolidWorks and through Bob Cam parametrically, which is integrated into SolidWorks."

What was the outcome of the project?

"Using SolidWorks probably saved three weeks of time and we could see/hear how slight changes to the bore affected the instrument on the same day that changes were made."

Vist the Michael Sanders website here: www.sandersdesign.co.uk

or check out www.windrigdgeflute.co.uk