Cutting and grinding

I have finished cutting and grinding the ends of the metal that I have right now. It's only about 1 octave though. And I just ordered the rest of my aluminum. So I'll begin the initial tuning process soon.

Cutting the first key

I figured out my situation for cutting the bars. I was going to get a metal cutting blade for a miter saw, but they were so expensive. Then I tried using a reciprocating saw, but it was too inaccurate and scratched up the surrounding area on the key. And then I tried just using a hack saw, which actually worked quite well. It will just take longer that way, and be a killer on my arm.

 Here is my first cut line using a hack saw.

After cutting the bar, I grind the ends smoother.

And here is my first cut key (F6/highest pitch), before any tuning at all.

This is the first step in initial tuning. I drill dents into the center of the bar, check the pitch and then drill more and more until I reach the desired pitch. It's a little more complicated than that though. And then I ran out of time to finish the key.

First Update - Stock Al bars

My first shipment of Aluminum bars came in. The aluminum I'm using is Al 6061, T6511, which is just the alloy and temper type. These 3 bars are for the keys C#5-F6. So hopefully I'll be able to start cutting them very soon.

                                   

Intro

This is where I'll show updates on making my homemade 3 octave vibraphone. It's sounds pretty crazy, but I've done a ton of research. I bought a set of plans that I'm going to use as a basic guideline. http://www.buildavibraphone.com/ But I'm planning on using different bar dimensions. This could be a very long, drawn out process, but hopefully not.

I actually was able to buy some stock aluminum through Amazon with free shipping, and I'm waiting for my first order to arrive, which should be this Wednesday.

If anyone wants to offer advice or wants to come help out, I would greatly appreciate it, a lot!