When I say household products I mean it in the broadest sense of the word , like blue tac which most have used at one time or another.
My bellows is getting old and shabby looking so recently I gave it a new lease of life by polishing the gusset with shoe polish, I took off all the belts and cleaned the sides with a little white spirit on a rag and buffed it up with some furniture polish and its like new again.
Have you any ideas or examples of things around the house that you have used to maintain your pipes.
You mention Blu-Tac. At the SE Tionol here in the US last February, David Power was tuning his regulators and revealed that he adds a little talcum powder onto the Blu-Tac after he’s satisfied with the configuration. This makes the outside of the Blu-Tac less sticky so if it comes into contact with the regulator walls it won’t stick. I’ve known someone who had this happen to them and it was a real job getting the stuff out.
Post-it notes are handy for cleaning dust and gunk out of reeds. Cut a long triangle from the sticky part and slip it in between the lips, compress the head lightly, and remove. Reverse and repeat.
One thing Uillmann stressed when he was teaching me how to tie on a bag properly, was to cut the “star” slits for the holes smaller than necessary and stretch them to barely accommodate the stocks. (The verb he used was “worry” them and this is along the same lines as train the leather to become a pipe bag.)
While pulling with your hands is good, this kitchen implement is also helpful in this process:
Also, these (while not household items) are great for grabbing the leather points and pulling them at that critical time of getting the stock into the hole:
BBQ kebab skewers for regulator rushing. Without wire I came across these in the pantry and they were very successful. Had to shave them down a little with a knife, add a few blobs of blu tac, etc.
Hose clamps - temporary measure to “tie in” the chanter stock of the bag and determine if the length was to my liking. Obviously tie in the neck stock properly afterwards!
Vaseline - for my older regulator leather key pads. Keeps them soft and sealing well.
For the longest time the bellows tube on my set was constantly slipping off of the joint, (I was too lazy to fix it) But a hose clamp has been a great fix! So it will work for that too!
Has anybody used Kerosene or WD-40 like Ennis or Pat Sky?
I once (possibly without judgement ) smothered my reed in WD-40 for humidity reasons, reed plays fine thankfully..
Of household products I recommend the use of sewing thread for making the bindings of joints. The reason I prefer this to Hemp is the thickness of the thread. I find most Hemp sold for use on bagpipes is far too thick for the Union Pipes. It is much eaiser to get just the ‘right fit’ when using thinner sewing thread. Currently I have a Cotton thread which is .004" ( O.1mm) in diameter… OK this takes a lot of winding on to make new joints but it packs down very nicely.
I use Beeswax on the thread for the fixed joints and Candle wax on the drone sliders.
True. Not all Beeswax is born equal. Sometimes it is nice and waxy and sometimes dry and hard. Probably depends on how it has been extracted .
Another very usefull household product is Closed Cell Foam. This can come in the form of draught sealant strips for windows and doors but is often not quite dense enough for the use I put it to. Of late I have found large rolls of the stuff which is used for Underlay ( of carpets or Cliploc flooring)… this makes very good key pads which do not leak and is easy to use.
The roll I bought was nominally 2mm thick , is easy to cut and has just the right density for the job, ie. it deforms enough under key spring pressure to form a good seal on holes but does not squash completely flat. Fixed to the keys with a dab of Super Glue it might take an hour or two to fully mould itself into position but it’s Staunch.
One room sized roll of this is enough for the lifetime of several pipemakers!
Double sided tape has a googolplex of uses ,apart from my wife using it when wearing low cut dresses to stop her boobs poping out,.I use it to make sanding boards of different grits by sticking the sandpaper to pieces of 1/4 inch MDF. Viola .
Beeswax is graded for high-end candlemakers who supply to the wealthy, cathedrals, and the like. Good quality light honeycomb is chosen for the scent imparted by the flora, (like honey) that it emits while burning. The darker brood comb contains higher impurities and must be further rendered, thereby driving off more moisture. After purifying, it can become more dehydrated in its solid form, although at a much slower rate.
IIRC he once suggested using slices off foam ear-plugs for regulator keys.
Works quite nicely too - one simply slices the required thickness
off what is already a uniform sized cylinder to create a disc that is then easily attached to
the key face, using your adhesive of choice…
Big advantage of these is your wife can use the remains of the plugs for the original intended
purpose. Several packets of the things lying around the house solve both the piping problem and
the “happy wife, happy life” requirements.
I read somewhere to crush a walnut (or two) and rub the oil on wooden parts.
It worked for me and since it’s fresh, I haven’t heard anything negative like going rancid or creating a sticky residue.
Crack open a walnut, take the pieces, wrap them in a cloth (handkerchief works well) and crush them into tiny pieces.
Toss out the crushed pieces and you have an oil impregnated wiping cloth.
It’s just for cleaning/wiping down and not for the bore.
Some years ago I used walnut oil as a lubricant while boring flutes. Worked well overall, and smelled good when hot. Any residue was non-toxic and it does taste good in the salad or on the pasta. . .however: It will go rancid eventually, and it is a drying oil, so using too much can lead to a build up.
Never use linseed oil on tropical hardwoods!
Linseed oil is fine for domestic (European, and probably also N.American) fruitwoods and the like, but not many flutes/whistles are made from such woods.
Almond oil is okay for most tropical woods. It is slow drying. If you apply it sparingly and wipe any excess off after a couple of hours, no harm will be done.
) smothered my reed in WD-40 for humidity reasons, reed plays fine thankfully..