I’ve got a Brad Angus practice set in C that I am restoring from it’s “found” condition. I’ve taken it apart for cleaning and what-not and have removed the chanter top and note that the top was sealed with hemp and what looks like a form of epoxy. I’ve managed to remove the adhesive and hemp residue, but I’m wondering if gluing the chanter top in place is wise? I’m leaning towards just using hemp, but wondering what is the norm for this connection. the wood (ebony) top slides into the brass fitting about .5" (2 cm) so not a lot of contact, but still it’s a wood to brass connx, like others that are just fixed just with hemp.
Do you mean the brass ferrule on the bottom of the removable chanter top?
For the ferrule, a “dry fit” with some new hemp should work… If it holds it on I think that should do the trick. I’m not sure what was originally there, but it might have been hemp with a bit of old-timey hide/natural glue… which holds well, but has a reversible bond so can make for easy repairs.
I think Epoxy would still be holding that sucker together.
I mean the chanter cap actually, that is part of the chanter top. But it does have a connecting ferrule made of brass to the rest of the top that is wood. Based on what you said I think I’ll give hemp a try. I can always put some chewing gum or summat in there if it blows off. : )
The top joint on my Angus B chanter is hemp only. I’ve had to rewrap it to adjust for humidity changes, but it’s quite stable now. If you want to be sure that you’ve restored the chanter to original condition, you can contact Brad via his website at anguspipes. com and ask him what he typically uses.
I use hemp coated with black wax (cobblers’ wax). I make and sell this wax. The wax is adhesive, but removeable when heated to body temperature, or slightly above. The hemp allows for the differential movements of the dissimilar materials. Glues often fail due to this movement. I heat the brass with a hair dryer to slightly expand it. This melts the wax which sets up when cooled back to room temperature. Most antique sets are held together with this method and still are holding. Brad gets black wax from me. I call it shoemakers’ wax, as cobblers don’t know about or use this product, but high-end custom bootmakers still use it. PM me to get some.
Thanks for the specific instructions on doing this. I’ll give it a go. I actually bought a stick of your wax last year, along with a rill of hemp and some of your lovely cane.
