A woodwind instrument makers' app for mapping a profile of split-bore instruments (like Native American flute or forest flute).
It can be used with a routed as well as hand-chiseled bore, and is especially handy for irregular bores.
When crafting a woodwind instrument, it is often important to calculate its effective bore diameter, so that we can lay out the finger holes properly, for example.
Yet split-bore flutes, after glued together, rarely have a perfectly circular bore. The math gets more complex when the router bit is semi-elliptical rather than semi-circular, or when the groove width/depth is irregular.
How great would it be to have an app that would calculate the effective bore diameter for us!
After you measure the width and height (depth) of the groove at various positions (in both bottom and top part), the app reconstructs bore shape at each of these positions, and calculates its area-equivalent diameter. The calculated diameters can be exported into WIDesigner application.
- For a routed bore, it is advisable to also specify dimensions of the cutter bit used, so that the groove shape can be reconstructed more accurately.
- For a hand-chiseled bore, either leave the cutter dimensions at their default values (the groove is then assumed to have an arc shape), or estimate the diameters of the cut by comparing washers of different sizes against the groove shape (cutter width is then the diameter of the washer, cutter height is 1/2 of it).
- Calipers
- Depth caliper
- Convenient ruler or tape measure
Recommendation: To best utilize the app, it is recommended to use calipers with a data output feature. By enabling Voice Hints option, the app keeps reading the current position as you measure. This makes the process much smoother, since you don't need to keep checking the screen.
- In the menu, click Export -> WIDesigner...
- Ensure WIDesigner Length Type is set to the units you use in WIDesigner
- If needed, you can offset all bore points using Bore Origin field. Otherwise leave it at 0.
- In WIDesigner, in your instrument's tab, add a sufficient number of rows to the Bore Points table
- In BoreMapper, copy the Positions column to clipboard and paste it into Bore Points table. Then do the same with Diameters.
Note: Alternatively, instead of employing the Bore Points table, you can just paste the generated <borePoint> blocks over the existing ones in your instrument's XML editor (the Vu button in WIDesigner toolbar). Use this method only if you know what you are doing.
- Bore is assumed to be split horizontally (halves are named bottom and top, and displayed as such)
- Only round cutter shape is supported (circular or elliptical). This, however, covers most of the traditionally used router bits as well as semi-elliptical grooves made with chisel.
- Voice hints for smoother measurement flow
- Cross-sectional diagrams, profile diagrams
- WIDesigner export
- Support for metric and imperial units