You can’t exactly lug your guitar and drum set on a campout, but sing-alongs really rock with musical instruments. A kazoo is the perfect answer.
You’ll need:
Step 1: Saw off a strip 1⁄2 inch wide.
Step 2: Measure and mark positions for three holes on top of the strip. Measure 13⁄8 inches from one end and make a centered mark.
Step 3: From that mark, measure 3⁄4 inch in both directions. Clamp the two pieces of wood together to ensure drilled holes will line up.
Step 4: Use a 3⁄32-inch bit to start the three pilot holes. Drill the center hole 13⁄16 inches deep and the outside holes 1⁄2 inch deep. (Wrap a piece of masking tape around the bit to mark where to stop.) Gradually increase the center hole’s diameter: 5⁄32 inch, 13⁄64 inch, 1⁄4 inch and then—by 16ths—to 1⁄2 inch. Redrill the outside holes 1⁄4 inch deep with a 7⁄32-inch bit. Drive the wood screws so the heads are beneath the surface.
Step 5: From the end of the base you began measuring from, drill a 3⁄32-inch pilot hole 15⁄8 inches deep. Gradually increase the hole to 1⁄2 inch, as before, creating an “L”-shaped airway between the base and the strip.
Step 6: At the opposite end of the base, drill a 1⁄8-inch pilot hole at the center all the way into the blowhole. Increase its size to 3⁄16 inch.
Step 7: At the same end, drill a hole all the way through the strip for a leather thong.
Step 8: Cut a strip from a plastic garbage bag, 11⁄16 inches wide and 2 inches long. Remove the screws and lay the plastic over the holes in the base. Replace the top and redrive the screws. Smooth the entire instrument with sandpaper. (Wrap a strip around a piece of dowel to smooth the inside of the airway holes.) Apply stain or varnish.
Bring the blowhole firmly against your lips and hum loudly into it. With your tongue against your palate, create sort of a “duh, doo, duh” sound. Practice songs from your favorite tape or CD, as well as some classic camp tunes. You’re ready to rock your troop all night long!
i want one
wow this looks like it will really annoy my mom, its cool
I need to make one
that is cool
KAZOOS ARE AWESOME!
Whats a kazoo?
TO JAKE a kazoo is a small tubular instrument that has an opening in the middle where tisue paper or cling wrap is placed over and then a latice is placed over the tissue paper or cling wrap to make a soft vibrating noise………….but that is the irish midevil way to make it……..you know like the 12th and 13th century midevil way to make one. This is the new upbeat and hitech way to make one.
Really?Wood, screws and leather hi-tech?
thats cool i will totaly make that
I likey
sounds annoying…..I like it
I will try it. It looks really cool.I have made one out of tin but never out of wood.I wonder if they will have it at the boy scout jymboree this year and if not I can make it at home.My final words on this subject before I leave and write about this again when I have tried the project are …….Its America and we never run out of wood, drils,screws,drillbits trashbag or any of that stuff,even during the great depresion.
it is fun
TO RACER have you tried it? and when did you try it? Or are you saying it is fun because it looks fun?
Never tried it. I think i will .
thats awesome
this actually works it is great me and my grandfather made two of these and it does work.
if you do what they say it will work and if it doesn’t check and make sure you did it right. and if it doesn’t sound right try different materials, like different plastics.
oh and by the way it takes a little while sometimes to figure out how to blow right and make a sound so don’t get discouraged if you can’t get the sound right at first.
you’re right always check yourself before blaming the manual
This is neat!Going to make this
Fun
it looks too complicated
this is hard and it really didnt work when i tried it. my freind made 1 and it worked.
I made this and it sounds better than my mettle kazoo.:)
I collect wooden kazoos, and making my own will be a great addition to the collection. This looks like fun. I actually have one I bought that looks very much like this one will turn out.
i wish i had time to build it
interesting but difficult to make
Me and my dad made one this weekend out of an old piece of hickory. It took us around 20 minutes to make and works great. Ive been humming into it all week.
clever and cool
It looks like a lot of work for one kazoo, not to say that its bad or anything. Its just that I don’t see the point in going through all that trouble just for something that you could buy in a store for 10c.
I want to but i cant
I wish I could but I would haft to go to my Pa’s shop
totally sweeet
i wish i had a machine to build it. it looks hard. but fun!
wow. a wood kazoo. very original
cool
thats cool