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How To Make Wind Chimes
If you're like many people, you've looked at the beautiful looking and sounding works of art in many people's gardens and outside their homes and wondered how to make wind chimes. Fortunately, this kind of project isn't all that hard. All you need is some patience, a little bit of skill, and the right materials. Of course, it's important to plan your wind chime project in advance, and go slowly to get a good result. However, almost anyone can successfully build their own set of wind chimes, with just a little work.
Learning how to make wind chimes is a great project for groups, especially if some people have more experience than others. That way, they can help the people who are a little less skilled, or who have become confused. Since you can use all kinds of materials for wind chimes, and make them in many styles, there's a lot of room for creativity. Some easy options include bamboo, wood, glass and shells, as well as stones, coins and bells. There are plenty of simple items that crafters often have around their homes that make good wind chimes. Beads and buttons add a bit of color to your chimes, as well as balancing them. You can even make wind chimes out of found objects and heavily worn vintage items. While there's no reason to break good antique glass to make a wind chime, items that are found already broken make an excellent starting point.
Any chime is made up of a few basic parts. The chimes themselves are the part that makes the noise. Ordinarily, they should be hollow in some way, either like tubes or bells, the two traditional wind chime styles. A solid chime won't produce as attractive a sound, resulting in a dull and unpleasant tone from your wind chimes. Items that are hung on the chime for decorative purposes, or which are there to help sound the chimes can be solid, however. Some examples include crystals, pieces of hardware, and even old cutlery. Drilled glass can also be used. Be careful when working with any material that might produce chips or dust. Wear eye protection or a dust mask when you use power tools on these materials. Even tiny metal flakes can be a serious eye irritant, for instance.
The chimes will have to be suspended in some way. A horizontal rod is a common chime part that's used to keep the individual pieces separated, while allowing them to swing freely. This should be wide enough to accommodate all your chimes, and well balanced. Be sure not so space your chimes too far apart, or they won't collide, producing their beautiful music. You'll also need a flat object to place in the center of the chimes. This is called the sail, and can be made of any number of things, but should be light and relatively thin. The purpose of this part of your wind chime is to catch the wind, allowing the chime to sound. Without it, many chimes will hang limply in even a stiff breeze. Smaller sails mean more wind is required to move the chime, while larger ones will move it in less wind.
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