What is the best Gauge for copper sheet to make bridles and a good suppler in the UK.
Does anyone know the gauge for the Cillian O Briain looped bridle sold at the NPU.
I used to prefer Bare Copper Wire from http://wires.co.uk/acatalog/cu_bare.html which I still use.
Cheers
Ferg
Hi Ferg,
I use K&S Copper Sheet. Its available from a lot of hobby shops in the UK:
http://www.cheshiremodels.co.uk/acatalog/K_&_S_Sheet_Metal.html
The stuff I use is ‘K&S Stock 259’. Its 0.5mm thick and works for me. Its best to anneal the copper first though otherwise its a pain to form it around the reed head. I think that Cillians pre-formed bridles were around the 0.4-0.5mm region.
Hope that helps.
Steve
Thickness matters, and could render numbers useless that would otherwise work.
Ferg,
Get yourself over to a scrapyard and search out an old copper house water tank. Just cut a square foot or so out of it and go from there.
Copper sheeting is used for roofing in the US and Canada in preference to lead. Still, you might find some copper sheeting in a hardware.
I’m with Mike, I simply cut up some old 1/2inch copper water pipe, I cut it in to strips with the tin snips, file it up in a small vice and it works a treat, I find the sheet copper a bit to springy for bridles, but each to there own. all th best.
Hi Ferg
I use 22swg for my style of reed, it is ideal for me. In my experience the heavy copper that you can get from old water storage tanks is much too heavy and can muffle the tone of an otherwise great reed.
Another point worth noting is that the gauge of copper you use can depend on how the reed is set up. Do you prefer to use the bridle to open or close the blades?
Ebay sells lots of cheap copper in various thicknesses. A 300mm x 300mm sheet will make well over 600 bridles.
Copper pipe will work also but seems like a lot of hardwork to me.
If you find any of the copper too springy then i would simply anneal it by heating to a dull red and then immerse in water quickly. I prefer not too but maybe thats just me.
Hope this helps.
The reed you made on saturday was sounding great, hope its still going well.
Cheers
Paddy
Totally agree 
I am thinking going with either 0.5 or 0.55mm thick copper sheets for bridle sold on ebay.
I already have the K&S Copper Sheet 0.64mm 0.025 (KS259) from http://www.alwayshobbies.com/Store/Craft-Materials which I got last year but to stiff to work with.
Hi Paddy
The reed I made from pre gouged cane from Spain at the Belfast Tionol is sounding even better now. It was playing a bit hard loud last night so closed the bridle a wee bit.
I may need to file the bottom of staple as reed is in chanter as far as it can go because of the brass tubing in the chanter.
Cheers
Ferg
Allan Moller uses 0.5mm thickness copper sheet and Benedict Koehler uses 0.55mm thickness copper sheet.
Cheers
Ferg
I made about 4-5 bridles (not looped) using the K&S Copper Sheet 0.64mm 0.025 (KS259) from http://www.alwayshobbies.com/Store/Craft-Materials.
I cut the copper sheet piece to about 12.5 mm by 3 mm first then cut the length to 25 mm or 1 inch. by 3 mm.
I hammered the copper flat first and then shaped the copper round the head of a Ball Pein Hammer 8oz and hammered it.
I filed the ruff sides and then got a reed, then got the bridle and placed the bridle on reed and marked with pen where the bending goes. (Got this tip form Cillian O’Briain’s on the NPU reedmaking DVD) With the pen marks on bridle I bend the bridle ends with pliers not on reed then finally fitted the bridle to reed the usually way.
I did not find this type of copper sheet to stiff to work with this time when using the method above.
All the best
Ferg
I use .025" copper. I cut an 1/8" strip with tin snips. The strip comes off as a curl. I bend a short tab at one end at an angle to fit the edge of the reed. The tab should be a bit less than half the head width. The curl fits the back of the head and I mark where the other edge is to be bent on the inside of the curl. I cut off the other end for the tab and fit the bridle aroung the head, carefully closing it into contact with the reed, with careful use of the pliers. I usually use the bridle to open the lips and squeeze the edges of the bridle to form it to the edges of the head. This works for a sliding or a fixed (pliers adjustable) bridle. I find using the curl to be key for this method. No annealing should be used. As it is in contact with the head mostly at the edges, the thicker copper will not muffle the tone. The thicker copper holds its form better than thinner stuff. I prefer how these work to the thinner O’Briain style, maybe because that’s all I have ever used and am too set in my ways to change now.