UGLY BOY FLUTES

These are flutes made with unusual or special woods and which may have additional artwork either in the blocks, inlays, construction, etc. They all have finish, come with a basic protective polarfleece bag, as well as a basic information sheet and fingering charts. (Click on “FLUTES” above)

News and Updates

MARCH 22, 2026

SHADOW HAWK FLUTES

This line of my flutes makes the quality and clarity benchmark “Ugly Boy Sound” affordable to even tight budgets. All flutes are made with Poplar, and have been sanded to 800 grit with one coat of Buther Block oil applied. They do not come with a bag or information sheet, but the sound mechanisms are made identical to higher-end Ugly Boy Flutes. (Click on “FLUTES” above)

Healing is well under way with my neck. There is still a swelling in my throat that hinders eating/swallowing, but I’m taking advantage of that and losing more weight. :-) The original problem, lost use of the shoulder joint, has been very slow to return. Doc said it may take up to a year to get use back, but with nerve surgery it’s a roll of the dice. My biggest issue/challenge is changing bits on my router table, but I make do the best I can. To shut my car door, I still have to take my right hand and hold my left arm out to reach the door handle, but that all has become second nature. Deal with what ya got… I’ve finally started getting back into the shop and have a trio of new ‘kids’ that I just photographed yesterday. I still need to make sound samples for them and hope to post those by the end of the day, Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise, as we say. REMEMBER: click on any image on this site to enlarge them. First up is a (high) E5 drone in figured Chechen. Birds especially like hearing the higher keys like this…and when hummingbirds are here, they’ll flit around the foot of the flute about 2-3’ away. Been a while since I’ve made a drone, especially a higher key one…I find them refreshing to play, especially my ‘take’ on “Zuni Sunrise Prayer” which you can listen to HERE. Staying in the figured Chechen family is an Ab4 (A flat) with a Black Walnut sweeptail (what I call my traditional sweeping tailed birds). Pictures don’t do this wood justice as there is a lot of figuring that changes as you move the flute around in light. Been a few years since I’ve worked with this wood, but I find it an easy wood to work, but only until it gets sanded down to 1,000 grit, and oil/finish applied, do you see the beauty. Ah, and yet another birth (3rd) in my recent puchase of Spalted Tamarind boards. This Bb4 came from a heavily spalted piece…these boards require a VERY long process to stabilize the wood throughout as it is soft and porous with the spalting. After about a week of treatment, it’s ready for working/finishing the flute, and the results are always stunning. The higher price in only part is the wood, but also the $ in supplies needed to stabilize the wood (and the lengthy time). I only use non-toxic and food-safe materials, so no issues with safety. I always make sure of that. # # # I’m doing my best to stay on top of the MOUNTAINOUS emails full of too much spam, but if you don’t hear from me in a timely manner please gently nudge me again. The amount of emails is stupid, and building constantly…I clear out up to 200 junk emails every day, and heaven forbid a skip a day or two. Eegads… Browse and enjoy! Email with any questions. Bob Child weatherflute@yahoo.com