Concert and flat pitch mandrels available on ebay
Take a look by clicking the link below
Cheers
Unlike copper and brass, steel does not soften when heated or “overheated”. It gets harder.
Full annealing is the process of slowly raising the temperature about 50 ºC (90 ºF) above the Austenitic temperature line A3 or line ACM in the case of Hypoeutectoid steels (steels with < 0.77% Carbon) and 50 ºC (90 ºF) into the Austenite-Cementite region in the case of Hypereutectoid steels (steels with > 0.77% Carbon).
It is held at this temperature for sufficient time for all the material to transform into Austenite or Austenite-Cementite as the case may be. It is then slowly cooled at the rate of about 20 ºC/hr (36 ºF/hr) in a furnace to about 50 ºC (90 ºF) into the Ferrite-Cementite range. At this point, it can be cooled in room temperature air with natural convection.
The grain structure has coarse Pearlite with ferrite or Cementite (depending on whether hypo or hyper eutectoid). The steel becomes soft and ductile.
RORY
So, to us mere mortal, is that a long way of saying yes or no?
It means Yes, steel can be softened,but you’d have to do some serious heating which in the case of making staples probably doesn’t apply.
RORY
Well both Ted and Rory are correct, when i refer to over heating i mean the process by mhich some mandrels are manufactured.
Held against a grinder until a taper is formed. The tip often goes “blue” which i suppose means its getting slightly “annealed” and therefore softer. I dont profess to understand all the mechanics but i do do what i have seen with my own eyes in reedmaking classes with some poor excuses for mandrels.
Anyhow heres somemore the last one sold 
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190605465280
Which mandrels are you talking about? Where did you do the reed making classes?
I refer to any mandrel that has not been shaped to produce an accurate and repeatable staple shape. The classes i refer to are those that i run myself or that groups of pipers have asked me to conduct.
Cheers
Well the way the forum is going it was only a matter of time. So is it mandrels at dawn?
RORY
Not at all Rory. Can’t blame a man getting defensive after some misplaced comments on previous threads.
Can’t blame a man getting defensive after some misplaced comments on previous threads
Misplaced comments and general surlyness are the norm for this forum so no need to go for mandrels at dawn. In the olden days it would have been Bayonets at dawn a la Egan.
Is this just folklore or did he really stab a customer and then escape to the US ?
I can see a problem with buying these mandrels as not all staples are the same and some are tapered and some like those on the reeds in my own set are straight. Best to check with your maker to see if they will suit the reeds for your pipes before buying
John
These mandrels are for forming the taper on the cylinder or cone staple. They will work with both.
I think what you are referring too are rolling mandrels. They form the cylinder or cone from flat sheet prior to forming the flattened part of the staple before it is inserted into the reed head..
I don’t know too many pipemakers who makes mandrels specifically for his/her pipes. Perhaps i’m wrong.
These mandrels will make staples for concert pitch, flat pitch and all regulators. No complaints yet 
And as you can read from the item description i have stated that other configurations and dimensions are available upon request.
Believe me when i say dont get to caught up on the whole rolled versus tube staples. In all my years of reedmaking i’ve only ever known three chanters to require a rolled staple. All Rowsome !!! Regulators now thats a different story
Thanks
Rory, you are correct on both counts. I agree that making mandrels with a grinder does not give one the special condition that the steel will be made soft. I use a file to make mandrels, so there is little heat involved. If using power tools for the job, I prefer a belt sander. In any event, I like a file to finish with and check the resulting slopes with a straight edge, before filing a curve on each side.
I remember reading somewhere (maybe O’Neill’s) that Egan’s weapon of choice was a reamer. He prefered a Bb baritone reg reamer for dawn dueling as it was nearly as flexable as a foil, but had the advantage of an in-built bloodgutter. But for ambushing non-paying customers he liked a C# tenor reg reamer, it fitted nicely up his sleeve and with the flick of his wrist could have it in his hand, ready for action before you could say cran.
There’s a lot the modern pipemakers could learn from Egan.
RORY
You’ll have a much easier time of it if you use different sized flattening mandrels for flat versus concert pitch chanters (i.e. wide vs narrow bore). A concert pitch-sized mandrel won’t fit into a narrow staple at all. Tubing staples are usually 4mm I.D. and 3.2mm I.D for concert pitch and ‘flat’, respectively. The best rolling mandrels - in contrast to the flattening mandrels - are fairly high precision tools, and require time and patience to make. They aren’t inherently difficult to manufacture other than that…
Most mandrels that I see on the market at the moment have flat-ground sides. This makes it well nigh impossible to form a nice lens shaped eye, or for that matter a smooth shape transition - I much prefer those of the sort which were in common circulation 10 to 20 years ago, with ovoid/lens-shaped cross-section. Of course the flat-ground variety can be reshaped with a good file and emery paper.
Grinding a mandrel can indeed result in overheating of the metal, thus a relatively soft mandrel if precautions are not taken. Applying excessive heat to the mandrel (say, with a propane torch etc.) after the fact would cause the same thing. Not sure why one would do the latter, but people do all sorts of things… all that said, fully annealed (i.e. fully soft) silver steel should be hard enough for a mandrel unless it’s taking a fair bit of abuse.
I make mandrels for all my reed/pipe styles, and will make them for customers on request.
Concerning steel: I am about to make myself gun drills for drones out of steel wires. What is the best way to make steel soft and harden it afterwards again? I usually brought steel to the glow and let it cool down slowly for softening or “shock cooled” it for hardening.
It would depend on what kind of steel,for instance tool steel would take longer at heat than say silver steel.What operations do you need to do to make gun drills? If you were only grinding you may not need to anneal the steel.
RORY
“it fitted nicely up his sleeve and with the flick of his wrist could have it in his hand, ready for action before you could say cran.”
What you are describing is a “flick-reamer”.
Elmek - The story about Egan stabbing a customer with a reamer and fleeing to America is anecdotal. At the time of his departure for America he was living and working in Liverpool. I managed to track down his address at 2, Star Court, in the artisans area of the 'Pool, from old maps in the Liverpool City Library. It was knocked down in the late 19th/early 20th Century to accommodate Liverpool’s business growth. I have been unable to find any evidence from Police records of the mid-19th Century, either referring to an absconded Egan, or any complaint from a stabbed piper.
Also, for pipemakers, the terms reamer and bayonet would have been largely interchangeable. I have three reamers made from early 19th Century very long French bayonets (21 inch blades, plus 6 inch handle), cruciform in pattern, and perfectly straight. they take a beautiful edge and cut very true.
Mike Hulme, those would be the ‘Label Rifle’ pattern bayonet. Many. many thousands were made. The carbines as well as the bayonets saw service as late as the Vichy Regime in North Africa. They periodically still turn up at gun shows here in the 'States. I picked up one very cheaply in the 1980’s. I would, however caution that the steel used for their manufacture was not all of the same quality. . .especially since their manufacture spanned nearly five decades.
Bob