For my Upcycling Project I am planning on creating a wall mount for my Native American flute, this will allow me to have a safe place to store the flute on my wall out of the way of the everyday movements of life. I was gifted the flute shown in Figure 1 by Professor Knutsen in the Mechanical Engineering department and am very grateful for his generosity. I have now learned to play this instrument to a level where I am sure I want to keep it around so have decided to go ahead and make a mount to commemorate it.

Figure 1: Native American Flute

You can see my initial design sketches for the wall mount in the featured image I am planning to create this artifact in a minimalist woodworking aesthetic, partly I am doing this because it will match the simplistic nature of the flute itself, especially the tuning block (small piece tied on above the holes) which is a little angular bird. I will emulate this same design motif in the wall holder itself, two similar birds will support the flute on either end. Minimalist woodworking is characterized by gentle curves, straight edges, and simple joinery in the form of hardware-less joints or very minimal hardware. Shown below in Figure 2 is a minimalist Japanese joinery style table by Barber and Osgerby, in this example they used three curved pieces of oak to create a very unique yet simple table design. I really like the minimalist aesthetic because it allows the materials and minute subtleties of the design shine, they do not get muddled in a tidal wave of information or facets.

Figure 2: Minimalist Table

I plan on creating my wall mount out of cherry wood, cherry is a hardwood prized for its amber color that darkens with age, it starts out very light and pinkish in color then after finishing and exposure to air and sunlight it darkens more and more. Cherry can be expensive when sourced from a wood supplier so I plan on either using remnant material from a roommates personal project or sourcing some at a lower cost from the Josh in the Makerspace in the Idea Forge.

Figure 3: Cherry Wood

In preparation to start on the physical work of the project I have taken the Saws and Drill workshop to gain access to the Idea Forge Makerspace, while this is probably the 4th time I’ve taken a intro workshop of the sort it was good to know some of the specific policies regarding the shop and space as a whole, even if I didn’t gain much from the tool demos. I am excited to continue work on this project and hopefully in a few weeks have a functional and beautiful artifact to support and protect an item I really enjoy.

 

Image Sources:

Figure 2: https://www.dezeen.com/2016/09/28/barber-osgerby-japanese-minimal-oak-hakone-table-london-design-festival-2016/

Figure 3: https://www.woodworkerssource.com/cherry/cherry-14-hobby-boards.html

4 Comments. Leave new

  • I really like the idea and how you want to form it around the existing artifact that you were gifted. Japanese wood working has always caught my interest due to it’s creative use of joints. I know it is difficult to get precision with cutting wood to it’s exact length and am excited to see the product. Remember, “Measure twice, cut once.” 🙂

    • Chris Adami-Sampson
      February 4, 2025 12:39 pm

      Thanks Pisay! Yeah I thought it would make sense to actually make an artifact that compliments something in my life and doesn’t just introduce more junk (not derogatory use of the phrase) into my life. Yep! the hardest part will probably be the internal corners the bird mounts fit into, I will be sure to take my time planning out and measuring before I get the cutting tools out.

  • Bryan Moreno Najera
    January 31, 2025 8:25 pm

    This makes me want to hear you play your flute. The wall mount looks like it will perfectly match the flute in aesthetic and materials. Cherry is a really easy to work with wood too, and since cherry is one of the only woods that the ITLL allows for laser cutting, maybe you might find some extra pieces of it under the large laser cutters. I am curious as to how you will be hiding the hardware for the mount itself.

    • Chris Adami-Sampson
      February 4, 2025 12:37 pm

      Maybe I will serenade you some time Bryan. Thank you, I am glad you agree that the styles match in your opinion, its nice to be validated in my ideas. That is a very good tip I didn’t realize you could laser cut cherry in the idea force, I may look for off cuts of cherry to make the little bird motifs. The plan so far is to have no hardware at all, except maybe some inlays on the back to mount the hanger on wall nails, otherwise it will be wood joinery and glued construction.

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