DIY Giant Chimes

Cut five lengths of pipe with a tube cutter so that they measure 48 inches, 50 inches, 52 inches, 54 inches and 56 inches. Having a 2-inch difference in the lengths of the pipes gives them a pleasing tone when they chime in sequence.

Hold the pipe a few inches from the end so that it hangs down and will swing back and forth between two fingers. Tap it with the handle of a hammer and note the sound. Hold it an inch lower and tap it again. Try many locations to find the hanging height where the sound pleases you most. Mark this point with a permanent marker. Measure this distance from the top of the pipe.

Drill a 1/8-inch hole in each side at one end of each pipe, at the point you marked and a point on the opposite side equidistant from the end. Try to make the holes directly across from each other.

Drill all the other pipes in the same way.

Drill five 1/8-inch holes 1/2 inch from the edge of an 8-inch diameter wooden circle. Space the holes evenly around the rim. Drill a sixth hole in the center of the circle. This will be the hanger for the wind chimes.

Drill a hole in the center of a 4-inch diameter wooden circle to make the clapper. Cut a 10-foot length of 18-gauge wire. Thread the wire through a 1/2-inch washer and then thread both ends of the wire through the hole in the center of the small wooden circle.

Run a wire through the holes in the shortest pipe and through one of the holes in the edge of the hanger. Twist the wire together so that the top of the pipe hangs 3 inches below the hanger.

Hang the rest of the pipes around the hanger in the same way, going from shortest to longest.

Thread the wires of the clapper through the hole in the center of the large wooden circle so that the clapper hangs 6 inches above the bottom of the shortest pipe. Twist the ends of the wire together to make a loop for hanging the chime.