Ancient Kauri

A Ancient Kauri Flute by Earl Tharp

Ancient Kauri Flute

Bob,

I am sending you the photos of my first completed Ancient Kauri wood flute. This flute features African blackwood accents and Woolly Mammoth inlay with scrimshaw. This is exceptionally high quality stuff! and I find it very easy do work with. The tonal characteristics of this wood are ideal for Native American flutes. I am using a 15 step sanding process ending with a 2000 grit. I then use Danish oil to bring out the figuring and over finish with wipe on poly after the Danish oil has fully dried. This flute required approximately 16 hours of my time. One comment is that the Kauri produces an extremely fine dust which smells really awful if you burn it with a saw blade or router. Good dust collection and filtration is a must. I have a dust collector. (2 micron) A dust filter (1 micron) and a full face filter mask called an "Aircap2"(1 micron) all purchased from Woodcraft. Please feel free to post these pictures and my comments on your web site.

I hope to be ordering more wood in a few months.

Walk in Peace,

~Earl Tharp

Mammoth Hunter Native American Flutes