Bamboo Pan Pipes

This makes a great gift for music lovers and environmentalists. For a more green version of this fun gift project, omit the glue and use a natural substitute, like wax.

Materials
2 foot length of bamboo (fresh cut or dry)
Wooden dowel slightly smaller in diameter than the bamboo
Penknife
Saw
Sandpaper
Wood glue
Twine

Cutting
The first thing to do is to cut the length of bamboo into 4 pieces, each with one open end and one end plugged by a notch. The pieces should measure, in order from longest to shortest, about 6, 5, 4 and 3 inches. Set aside the remaining bamboo. About 1 inch from the open end of each bamboo pipe you have just cut, you are going to cut an air hole. To do this, line the blade of your penknife 1 inch away from, and parallel to, the edge of the open end of the bamboo pipe. Slide the blade back and forth just enough to make a clearly visible line. Next, use your blade to make a semi-circle from one end of this line to the other, on the side furthest from the open end. Use this as a guide to cut the air hole. The straight line should be cut straight down into the hollow of the bamboo, about ¼ inch deep (or 1/3 the thickness of the bamboo, whichever is greater). The semi-circle should be cut at an angle, so that the cut gets more shallow as it moves toward the apex of the curve furthest away from the straight line. Do this on each pipe you cut.

Tuning
The opening of each pipe will now need to be partially filled with a piece of the dowel. Start by cutting four 1 ½ in. pieces from the dowel. One side of each of these pieces will need to have a flat edge, so cut about 1/8 in. of one side of each piece of dowel away. Slide a piece into the opening of the first pipe, flat side up, and blow into the pipe. If necessary, use sandpaper to file it down until it fits inside the bamboo. Slide the wood in and out until you find the right note. Mark the wood, take it out, apply glue to the round edges, and then reinsert it, up to the mark. Repeat this for each pipe.

Assembly
Cut the remaining piece of bamboo lengthwise, into 4 strips. Lay 2 of these cut side up on the table, slightly angled toward each other at one end, and apply a dot of glue every inch. Place the pipes, from longest to shortest, onto the glue spots. Attach the other 2 strips to the top of the pipes in the same way. Wrap each joint with twine in an "X" pattern.