http://celtinstmakers.net Learning to Play and Make Uilleann Pipes Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:40:27 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Dirk Mewes, Colorado pipemaker, has a blog that details his process.  http://dwmpipes.blogspot.com/  Lately he has taken on regulator key-making. Highly recommended. http://celtinstmakers.net/?p=159 NPU seems to have made freely available Dave Hegarty's excellent The Uilleann Pipe Reedmaker's Guidance Manual, third addition.  What I like in particular about this book is, besides giving great advice for making and troubleshooting chanter reeds, it delves in-depth into drone and regulator reeds. Regulator reeds have been particularly neglected, until ... http://celtinstmakers.net/?p=157 The drawbar in my XJ9525 Mill has M12 (12mm) threads.  My new set of R8 endmill holders have M10 (10mm) threads.  The answer, turn the rod thread down from 12mm to 10mm using a die.  Here's how: http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-use-a-tap-and-die-set/index.html Irwin makes good metric tap and die sets. http://www.acetoolonline.com/Irwin-Tap-and-Die-Combination-Sets-s/2823.htm http://celtinstmakers.net/?p=151 Link to Medir Cane online store where you can purchase cane for UP chanters and drones: http://www.medir.cat/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=7&Itemid=3&lang=en http://celtinstmakers.net/?p=149 Martin is turning out some gorgeous sounding, and looking, work. Here is his latest C 3/4 set.  http://martinpreshaw.com/gallery/c-3-quarter-feb2010.htm  (Slideshow) http://martinpreshaw.com/media/feb2010C3-4set_01.mp3  (Audio Sample: Nice!) I just got tenor and baritone D concert regulators from Martin and I must say that they are really nice. http://celtinstmakers.net/?p=144 Another excellent tutorial by Curt Garvis, this time on bending brass tubing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7ySuxiUvAY http://celtinstmakers.net/?p=142 NCH Tone Generator is software that generates a sustained tone at a frequency you designate.  The tone can be a sine wave, a square wave, and a number of other basic waveforms.  Tones can be designates and saved to a list. Playback is with a click on the saved item.  One use ... http://celtinstmakers.net/?p=140 Curt Garvis documents a modification of David Daye's Penny Chanter design, using Delrin rod and Cocobolo wood stock to enhance the aesthetics of the stock design. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDCMAOmwEME The use of the Delrin rod drilled exactly to size should eliminate the problem of voids between tone-holes resulting in air-bleed. Note that metal inside wood ... http://celtinstmakers.net/?p=136 Susan Seivane is a wonderful Galican piper. She comes from a tradtion of pipers and pipemakers, starting with her grandfather, and now her brothers.  She has made available a series of facinating videos that document the Seivane pipemaking process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tu5KKNrQG0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4D1LekoOUU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQz5HG11fUg http://celtinstmakers.net/?p=134 Here is the C Penny Chanter I just finished.  I'm very happy with how it looks and more so, how it sounds.  I had a little trouble bending the brass headstock tube, and maybe did not anneal the brass properly. You can see the crimps in the tube, which should not be there. ... http://celtinstmakers.net/?p=129