the whistle can be made from any material. antler, wood, horn etc.
for clarity i have used a 4 piece of oak to show the process
i am going to shape this on the lath but you can do all the shaping by hand.
so drill an 8mm hole into the wood/material to depth of 3 1/2 cm
then give wood an initial shape, this helps for the next bit
place the wood in vice. mark two lines. one 1 1/2 cm and the other 2cm from the mouthpiece
starting at the line nearest the mouthpiece, with a hacksaw or fine saw cut straight down,cut down until you have cut through the wood into the hole you have drilled.
then cut diagonally from the second line towards the mouthpiece so that it connects with the bottom of the first cut you have made.
then back in the lath and finish shaping. sand.
seperate from the scrap piece in the collet
then taking a 3cm length of 8mm dowel, trim the top of the dowel to give semi circle shape.
insert into the hole and push until the dowel is just visible in the cut you have made.
the amount varies between different materials, the thickness of the walls.
you will need to adjust this dowel to get the sound, you should have no effort to create a sound,
if you have to blow hard trim more off the dowel to enable more air in.
when correct glue in place. then trim when dry. sand etc
this can be the most irritating part when you can just hear a sound coming but its not loud enough,
patience and a fiddle will do the job, the more you make the easier it gets.
sound familiar?
this shows the shape of the mouthpiece
and this shows finished article, just needs bit of sanding here and there, and wax coat. you can see where the dowel shows through the hole.
this is very loud.
the thicker the walls of the whistle the duller/deeper the tone
two whisltes made from the same piece of wood/horn, will give slightly different notes.