Wind Chimes
- DifficultyMedium
Introduction
Upcycle items around the house to make a whimsical wind chime.
Step 1
Begin this project by drilling holes in an aluminum pie pan to create the primary support structure for your wind chime. Mark points on the pie pan where you would like each individual chime to eventually hang from. We chose to place five evenly spaced points along the outside brim of our pie pan and three on the interior base approximately 1/2" from its perimeter. With your pie pan clamped, drill through the marked points using your Dremel 4200 rotary tool and 150 Drill Bit accessory. We recommend setting the tool speed to 15 when completing this step. Mark a point at the center of the pie pan and plunge through it using a drill and 1/2" drill bit. In Step 5 we will pull a rope through this hole and use it to hang the wind chime upon its completion.
Step 2
Clamp your spoon by the end of its stem so that the majority of its stem and oval tip are exposed. Mount the EZ456 Metal Cutting Wheel accessory onto your 4200 tool. With the tool set at speed setting 30, make a horizontal cut into the front edge of the oval spoon tip to create a mouth for the fish. Then using the same tool and accessory make two cuts into the stem of the spoon to create a tail. Now we will create an eye hole and functional hanging hole for the fish chime. With your spoon clamped, drill a hole for an eye beside the mouth cut made earlier and a hanging hole close to where the tip of the spoon meets its stem. Use the 4200 tool at speed setting 15 with the 1/8'' accessory to accomplish this.
Step 3
Create copper pipe chimes to be hung through the holes drilled through the interior base of the pie pan support. Repeat the directions below for each copper pipe chime you create. We created three copper pipe chimes. Measure and mark a segment of 1/2" copper pipe to 9" in length. Mount the US510 Metal Cutting Wheel accessory onto your Dremel Ultra-Saw™ tool. Wearing gloves and with the pipe clamped, cut along the mark to create the body of the copper chime. Use a hammer and nail to create an indentation on the top center of a 1/2" copper cap. With your copper cap clamped, plunge through the indentation using your 4200 with the 1/8'' accessory at speed 15. Note that creating the indentation guides the drill bit as you plunge through the cap and prevents it from running along the cap's surface. Apply a waterproof epoxy inside of the cap and slide it onto one end of the copper pipe. Let the epoxy dry.
Step 4
Cut the string used to hang each chime to its desired length. We hung our chimes at staggered heights by cutting their supporting strings to the lengths listed below. Once you have cut your string to size, pull it through the hanging hole of the chime. For the fish chimes this was an additional hole made on the tip of the spoon and for the copper chimes it was the hole made in the cap. Knot the end of the string to fasten it to its respective chime. String Lengths • Copper Chimes: 6", 8", 10" • Fish Chimes: 6", 8", 10", 12", 14" • Step 2 Optional Decorative Centerpiece: 16"
Step 5
Finally, we will tie the chimes to the pie pan support and hang the finished piece with rope. Feed the available end of each string through its respective hole placement on the pie pan support. As a reminder we placed the copper chimes on the interior of our pie pan support and fish chimes along the exterior brim. Knot the strings. Pull rope through the 1/2" hole made in the center of the pie pan in Step 1. We used 36" of rope for our wind chime. Knot the rope. If you created the optional centerpiece in Step 2, tie the available end of its string to the end of the knotted rope. Hang the finished wind chime.