Since my last update, all of my material has arrived! The raw material includes a 6 foot long aluminum pipe, a 3 foot aluminum pipe (both .625″ OD and .495″ ID), a 4″ diameter aluminum hanging plate, and a 2″ diameter plastic striking weight.
I measured out the lengths of my five chimes and marked them on the raw pipes using a simple tape measurer and a sharpie. Then I took them to the machine shop and used the band saw to cut them. All pipes are within 1/16″ of the length I had calculated for the right notes, so I’m thinking that I’ll see how they sound before deciding if I need to make them more precise.
I have the hole patterns for both the hanging plate and the pipes planned (calculated for the pipes), and just need to put them into SolidWorks before taking the parts to the shop to drill.
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You should look into customizing the notes so it makes sounds to a song. Check out youtube for some inspiration I have come across some similar projects on the internet where people tuned the pipes to create a melody. It would definitely add to the creativity of the project but excellent work so far!
Jacob, I am curious as to how much all of this has cost you? It seems like a pretty low budget project. I am curious to hear how the chimes come out, I think this is a very creative project and I enjoy reading the design process that you have gone through to create this piece of art.