Sorry if it was already, but I don’t think that my new post was submitted. If I can convince my dad to get a bigger lathe, I am considering the construction of a half set, by my hand, out of delrin, and brass for the mounts. If there are any makers in the forum that can give me pointers, I would appreciate it. If you like, you can call me crazy as well, plenty of other people I know have done the same.
A good group to join is amateur bagpipe makers on yahoo.com. You’ll find many of the qustions you’ll need answered in a pretty friendly manner there. You may not need anything much bigger than a midi lathe with an extention. Opinion varies. I would suggest getting and turning/drilling delrin before you decide to make your first set. Get a couple of pieces of hardwoods you would like to use. You may find you like the wood better. I’m not too fond of delrin’s working properties and would suggest wood any day.
Good luck,
Marc
Delrin is not a good place to start from, certainly not if you don’t have much experience with turning. It’s difficult to turn Delrin without a lot of whip and chatter, and it takes a great deal of time and patience to get a decent finish on it. You’ll be doing yourself a favor to use wood to begin with.
Some of the less expensive woods that yield decent results (which will vary, of course) include Bolivian rosewood (a.k.a. Santos), Honduras rosewood, mopane and ziricote. It might be tempting to use something more readily available, such as maple, but I’d steer away from the domestic (USA) woods.
Contact Chris Bayley. He has plans on his web site and also full plans for sale.
http://www.pipersgathering.org/Irish%20Uilleann%20Pipes/Uilleann%20Pipemaking/uilleann_pipemaking.htm
By David Quinn
The following dissertation on a set of drones made by the Taylor Brothers of Philadelphia sometime between 1870 and 1890 appeared first as a series of three articles in the magazine published by the Irish Pipers’ Club of Seattle, Iris na bPiobairi / The Piper’s Review.