Air leak at neck stock

Uilleann Pipes
1

Since the cold dry spell my bag has developed an air leak underneath the neck stock.
I’m not sure how to retie the neck stock, or trust I could do it tight enough if I could! Anyone have any suggestions for a temporary fix to shore it up until I can get it looked at?

2

First, have you tested it with a dilute solution of detergent to see where and how much it is leaking? Children’s bubble blowing liquid is ideal, but any dilute dishwashing soap solution will do.

Bob

3

Time to re-tie the stock. You can put some silicone around the stock under the leather of the bag before you tie to guard against this. The silicon is removable if you ever need to re-tie. Putting some superglue on the binding helps to prevent the binding from slipping and losing tension.

  • Jason
4

For a temporary fix, you can try tying a few more layers of cord around the binding that is already there. Especially if you get a couple of wraps in just above the existing wraps, you might be able to slow down the leak enough to make do until you can have it retied.

5

Thanks for the suggestions.
What’s the best type of thread/twine to re-tie the stock with?

6

I favor the Artificial Sinew from Tandy. If you can break it, try your hand at arm wrestling King Kong!
Sometimes you can temporarily staunch a leak with a paste of olive oil (or alternatively hand lotion) and warmed bee’s wax.
For re-tying I like to use Blu-Tac to putty up the irregularities around the seam. If you have soft enough leather (think kid skin) you can fill the voids with small rolls of leather.
Good luck!

Bob

7

Try electricians tape wrapped tightly around the cord extending on to the stock.Any colour you like .

RORY

8

Tying in stocks is much easier than you think! I wouldn’t mess with silicone glue, blue-tac, or rolls of leather unless the leak persists after you re-tie-in the chanter stock.

Tandy’s Artificial Sinew sounds like a good bet. I’ve had good results with Nyltex (paraffin-soaked nylon cord), which is also handy for tying reeds. I like it because the paraffin holds knots closed, and also makes it easy to keep a good firm grip on the cord while you’re tying.

Tim Britton sells small quantities of Nyltex as part of his reedmaking offerings, but you can buy bigger spools of it via Amazon, and probably also from Tandy since it’s used in shoemaking and other leather crafts.

By the way, waxed hemp/flax is not the right tool for this job (nobody’s suggested it, but you may have some already); it breaks too easily. You want something you can wind tight.

Good luck!
Mick