Per my tutor’s advice I have not touched my full set for the last couple months. Instead practicing with my practice set. I found a bunch of leaks when I first brought the full set home and through advice here on C&F and a trip to the maker… 90% of the leaks were fixed and it was much easier to pump (less pumping required). But those remaining small leaks still bugged me.
So I went back to my rocket experience and used some DC111. I am betting that this is the first time this have ever been used on UP’s??
Anyhow… NO Leaks… All air is ONLY going to the reeds. I am happy and at peace now.
Feel free to tell me how I have ruined a good set of pipes
Ah… and the pipes are back on the shelf and I am back on the practice set until I can’t stand it anymore and have to play the full set (with one reg and a drone to start).
I would be interested in how you used the soapy solution to find the leaks. You did not pour it in the wooden parts, right?
I read your blog post but it was not clear to me, where exactly you put the silicon grease. Did you use it on the points where the wood and metal parts meet (on the outside of the pipes)? My experience with this kind of sealant is, that it produces quite a tight fit in sliding joints (like in flasks), so it would not be a good idea to use it on the drone slides.
I put it on the inside of the joints right on the waxed hemp. A very thin layer will do. And it is not a glue its a lubricant. So it actually makes joints a bit easier to move. Its similar to what some do with cork grease only this stuff does not change properties with temperature.
As for the leak checking with the soapy solution I used a squirt bottle that shoots out a small stream on the outside of the joints. I am quick to blow off and towel any wood that gets wet. I did squirt the outside of the reg pads but then decided that may not be a good idea. And while I feel fairly confident that the DC 111 works well on wood and metal joints i am leery about the keyed leather on wood joints.
I will. I know that the dc 111 holds up well on its own. I “borrowed” a previous tube from work around 1978. It works great on a lot of different uses in the home. I squeezed the last little bit out of it last year and it seemed the same as in 1978… So that is 35 yrs..
But how it works with wood which does change over time, humidity, and temperature… That remains to be seen. I will let you know.
You mentioned using it on joints wrapped with waxed thread. Waxed thread was developed for wet-blown pipes to slow down the rotting process in the thread. It should not be used on bellows-pipes as it is not as air-tight as unwaxed hemp. Raw (unwaxed) hemp should be used. Coat the first layer with cobblers’ wax so the hemp sticks to the pin. Wrap over the waxed hemp with unwaxed hemp. The amount of wrap on the top layer determines how tight the fit is. It should be fairly easy to install or remove from the socket. Drones should be a tighter fit in the reed end so the drone stays put when tuning the drone which is wrapped with less tension in the tuning slide. The fuzziness of the raw hemp helps make an air-tight joint. No need for a very tight fit or waxes or grease to be applied. You can vary the amount of hemp on the top of the wrap as the pipes timber shrinks and swells when the weather changes. DC111 may be useful on the top of the hemp when it is socketed into a metal tube, rather than wood. I use a mixture of tallow or lard and bee’s wax melted together to make a “piper’s grease”. Ferrules are best mounted with thin hemp coated with cobblers’ wax instead of glue to hold them securely, yet are removable by warming the wax with a warm hair-dryer or even body heat. The wax softens at body temperature. Sounds like you are trying to fix leaks due to improper wraps. Better to do the job right in the first place, then such high-tech solutions will not be needed.
One point I forgot to mention. I always tightly wrap joints by wrapping the thread in the same direction, like clockwise. When I insert or remove a wrapped joint into or out of its socket, I always twist it into or out of the socket in the same direction as the wrap is wrapped to keep the wrap tight. Same for hemp on tuning pins. Keeps it all together.
