How to Make the Top Piece for Wind Chimes
This piece is usually made of wood because it's readily available, easy to work with, and long lasting. It can be a one
piece solid sawed from a board or exterior grade plywood. Plywood is made up of thin sheets of wood that are glued
together to form a very strong whole. If the glue used is readily water-soluble it is interior grade and should not come in
contact with water or the glue dissolves and the plywood falls apart. Exterior grade plywood uses glue that won't allow the
layers to delaminate when it meets the dew or rain encountered outdoors. If you are using scraps of plywood and you're not
sure which grade they are, just leave them outdoors for a few weeks and keep them wet. The ones that stay together are the
ones to use for outdoor chimes.
In order to draw the shapes you want, you will need a ruler, a protractor (for angles) and a compass (for circles and arcs).
They are inexpensive and can be purchased in the school supplies section of many stores. Make the figures on paper then cut
them out carefully. Trace the shapes on to the wood. If you will be making several of the same shapes over time, use a thin
plastic sheet to act as a template. The template can be traced on each piece of wood to save a lot of time over drawing and
cutting the same shape every time.
Draw circles with the compass. Exact measurements are unnecessary, just make them the size that looks good.
Circles are perhaps the hardest to cut out accurately with simple hand tools. Jig-saws are tedious, especially with the thicker
wood. Electric scroll saws or band saws will make the job much easier. Figures with straight sides can be cut with a power
saw or a standard hand saw.
Square pieces aren't hard because there are plenty of square corners around the house-envelopes, magazines, books,
etc. Carpenters squares can be had for a few dollars in the hardware sections of stores. Squares may be used for four chime or
eight chime projects.
Pentagons-five sides- now here is an interesting project. It gets a little complicated, but I'll try to keep it simple.
We'll be making a figure that looks like a house as seen from the end, but with walls that bulge outward at the top. Draw a
straight line at the bottom, perhaps three inches or five centimeters, the exact length isn't important. Put two marks on the
line to show how long each side will be. Open the compass to exactly meet the two marks, then put it aside. The middle of
the protractor is placed on the left mark on the line and mark is made at 108 degrees. Be sure the bottom line of the
protractor is placed exactly on the first line across the bottom. Connect the two marks and extend it for a short distance.
There will now be a line leaning to the left. Think of it as the wall of the house.
On the right side of the bottom line put the middle of the protractor on the right mark and draw a line the same way
(108 degrees), but the right hand wall should be leaning to the right. Take the protractor and place the point on each of the
marks of the bottom line and make an arc on each line you've just drawn. That will be the tops of the walls. Now three sides
of the pentagon are the same length.
The protractor point is put where each of the arcs cross the lines and arcs should be drawn in the middle
where the peak of the roof would be. Where the two arcs now cross, draw a line from that point to the tops of the walls.
This sounds complicated, but it's not after the first time you do it. That's all. You can now make a five-sided chime top,
each side the same length.
Create six sided figures or hexagons by first drawing a circle with the compass. Don't change the setting of the
compass if you are satisfied with the size of the circle. Put a mark anywhere on the circle and place the point of the compass
on the mark. Make two arcs (small pieces of a circle) on either side of the mark on the circle. Next, put the point carefully on
each of the two marks where they cross the circle, and make an arc furthest from the first mark. Do this one more time on
the new arcs and you will have six marks on the circle. Connect the marks with a straightedge and you will have a six sided
figure, good for three or six chimes.
There are at least three ways to make octagons for eight chimes (or four). Here's my favorite. Construct a square, nine
inches on a side is good. Draw diagonal lines across the corners to find the middle of the square. Position a compass on one
corner of the square and open it to reach from the corner to the center of the square. Put the point of the compass on the
corner and draw an arc on two sides of the square. Repeat this for each corner. The points where the arcs cross the square
are the points to join up to make an octagon.
Back to the Chime Article
You'll find a wealth of info in the bookmark section and the past postings of the message board. The bookmarks even include directions in basic tool use like cutting and drilling pipes.
