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 can be problematic, but in this case, the wood is probably thick enough to withstand expansion pressures.
It’s a very attractive modification.
I use the pseudonym Epitomichi for posting on YouTube. I live on a hill overlooking the Tomichi Creek in Gunnison Colorado.
Curt Gravis
Small world :o) I’m in Albuquerque.
Do you know Dirk, who is a pipemaker living near Boulder?
I don’t know Dirk. Gunnison is quite distant from Boulder, or pretty much anywhere else. I reside in solitude in my mountain sanctuary, learning what I can about Scottish smallpipes and uilleann pipes from the web.
I think your crimping on your tube bending is caused by insufficient annealing. The brass on the large radius was not soft enough to stretch, but the brass on the small radius was soft enough to bend into a crimp. I heat my brass tubing in the evening so that I can see its color well. I heat the brass to a dim red color — nothing like the bright cherry that heated iron develops. I heat the tube as if it has four sides, which means that I really heat the tube four times. You are right to avoid lead. For small bends sand or ice should be OK. If you get into making 180 degree bends for drones, look into low temperature bismuth alloy. You can find it on eBay.
There is a lot to be learned, that’s for sure.
I actaully ate lunch in Gunnison on vacation last summer. It’s very nice little town. It looked like it was changing fast, like much of Colorado.
Your point about the tubing crimping is well taken. The problem was twofold; one– I did not anneal at all, and second, the tube needs to be fastened to the clamp with a bolt or pin to avoid having it drag and bunch up during the bend– here’s an illustration from Davy Stepehenson’s website:
http://www.bagpipeworks.co.uk/P2201156.JPG
I asked him about this the other day, and he pointed out the pin, which I had totally missed. I always wondered why the little hole in some drone U bend ends– that’s why.
Do you find that the annealing weakens the swan neck, or does it stay strong.? Do you let cool, or quench?
I think I saw some of the low temp bismuth alloy at Micromark. Need to try that because the lead is some nasty stuff. Old-time pipemakers were probably mad as hatters in the end because of the toxicity of some of their materials.
You might want to look up Dirk on Uilleann Forum (Dirk the Piper). He is a lot farther along than me. He was learning tube bending techniques recently too I think.
I enjoyed your bellows video too. I use a similar construction technique, and also the silicone sealent. I’m unconvinced how it will hold up long-term, but I’m at two years with one bag and bellows with no apparent degradation, so things are looking positive. It sure is airtight. How long have yours held up?
When I anneal brass, I don’t worry too much about how it cools. If I don’t have the urge to work it immediately, I let it cool slowly. But, if I need to handle it immediately, I quench it in water or snow. Putting a bend in a tube hardens the brass. If the swan neck undergoes minute bending during playing, that movement will harden the brass. My bender is not as fancy as Davy Stepehenson’s, but I do fasten the brass. I patterned my bender after the one made by Bill Thomas:
http://www.archcarving.com/Bagpipes & Bellows/bag_pipes.htm#Projects
How will the silicone hold up in bag and bellows? I trust the industry tests that predict at least a 30 year lifespan. According to a Dow Chemical web page: “Silicone sealants and adhesives increase the life span of bridges, ships, office buildings, airport runways and highways.” If silicone can do all that, it should also work wonders in bellows.
Oh… I should have been more clear. Delamination/flaking of the Silicone from the leather is what I worry about. Only time will tell, but so far so good. I have Silicone caulk sealing windows that are in full nm sunlight going on 8 years and the caulk retains its flex and has not delaminated from the wood. But leather is a different material. It also seems to make a great deal of difference to adhesion depending on if the smooth or nap side of the leather is used, with nap being much better. Not a problem for bellows where nap is in, but for a bag, many players seem to perfer the nap side out which leaves the smooth side for the Silicone treatment. I’m finding that bond very tenious, even when well worked into the leather. Even on my L&M bag, the patent sealent is starting to delaminate after a few years in this dry climate. Not saying it’s a bad idea… I am not convinced it is a good long-term solution yet. I’d like my bags and bellows to last 10-20 years. Probably no worse than a glued double gussett however.
I put the leather’s rough side inside bags and bellow. By thinning the silicone with mineral spirits, I get the silicone to infiltrate the leather so it cannot peel off. If I were to put the leather’s top-grain inside, I would look for a liquid vinyl product like the stuff sprayed on leather as a pigment finish.