Chanter Keys

Uilleann Pipes
1

Hi all,

does anyone know of any resources on the web that would help me with the construction and assembly of chanter keys?
The chanter I play has blocks for keys and also has the tone holes pre drilled and corked.
So if I could successfully make myself a key, I wouldn’t be risking damage to the chanter by drilling the wrong place. At worst I would just have to re-cork the tone hole,

any help gratefully appreciated,
Mark.

2

Mark, as to the shaping of the keys, it might be helpful if you know what older type set yours is modelled after, and then get some photos. If you are hard pressed, you could get the Garvin book or the Ginsberg plans from NPU.

As to the making, my understanding is that you start with either brass or nickel-silver heavy sheet, cut a strip, anneal it, and then beat it into shape. Not sure of the details, but apparently welded keys are not as strong as those made from one piece of formed metal.

Might be easier to get a pipemaker to make them for you.

djm

3

Follow this link to a site about Northumbrian small pipes… there is some related information about keymaking:
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/5701/smallpipes/pipe1.htm

watch out for the annoying pop-up windows

4

Hi Mark,
try this, I didn’t look myself, just found the site. It’s NSP’s but they key making should be ok, NSP’s have a few key don’t they :wink:

http://www.geocities.com/Paris/5701/smallpipes/pipe1.htm

Cheers, Mac

5

Tony!!,
how did you do that? were you reading my mind? serves me right for working with 2 browsers open :slight_smile:

Cheers, Mac

6

I have seen keys made with hacksaw and file but beating them into submission is an option too

7

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8

Mark,
Who made the chanter?
I know Michael Dooley drilled and corked chanters for future keys. Perhaps you can e-mail him for some advice. His webpage is here:
http://homepage.tinet.ie/~dooleypipes/index.htm

9

Thanks for all the replies.
And Kevin to answer your question, its not a money issue, it would be to learn and if achieved successfully something to be proud of also. I have a router, so I should be able to manage the key seat (I hope), anyway for safety I would mock the entire process on a piece of waste timber first. The safety net I suppose is that if all goes wrong I can simply re-cork the tone hole and write it off as a bad experience,

thanks again,
Mark.

10

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11

Hi Peter,

This photo above? It’s one from the possible book right? Any luck in that department yet?

Patrick.

12

Thanks for rambling a bit. I’ve been wondering how that is done.

13

For the general interest two more shots of cutting a keyslot in a chanter, c natural key here.
The block is cut here with a hacksaw blade and then chiseled in an altogether less fancy set up than Kevin described.

PS Patrick, getting Geoff to sit down to do the writing and to keep the project within my attention span was a bit too much in one go so it died again despite appreciated efforts by one boardmember [thanks Josh and sorry]. Am still sitting on some 500 shots like that and can be persuaded if a publisher knocks on the door, I just can’t be bothered too much to find one. Ofcourse the obvious publisher didn’t show any significant interest when offered the idea.

14

Folks have been making instruments with keys for several hundred years…I have always wondered how those old Italians and Germans mounted their routers and which bits they used to cut the the key slots!! :smiley: Remember, the advantage of power tools is that they allow us to destroy more materials, faster, than we could ever do by hand.