Hey everyone,
I know I read a thread about this a LONG time ago, but can’t seem to find the one I’m thinking about thru SEARCH…
I have to re-lap most of the joints on my pipes (normal wear), and I’m not too sure about the materials used and procedure. I remember something about beeswax and dental floss…? From the look of my set, floss and some similar binding agent were used originally.
Can someone fill me in on how to do it, or link me to a good tutorial?
Thanks,
Joey
Ji Joey,
I always use cotton thread coated with bees wax. If the thread keeps breaking while you are coating it with the bees wax just double it over. It wraps faster that way too.
Teflon tape doesn’t work on tenons, it’s not elastic enough to fill the space once it has been used a couple of times. There is an electricians tape that is used for redmaking etc that shoudl be good… it looks like giant dental floss. Real dental floss could end up costing you a fortune… it’s fine for reed seats but you’d need a ton of it to wrap whole tenons.
Bye now,
Patrick.
I use the prewaxed black hemp from aberdeen bagpipe supply.
http://www.aberdeenbagpipe.com/
There is a lot in a 2 oz roll. I use the same stuff to bind reeds. It’s quite strong and saves the bother of waxing it yourself although I do kinda enjoy the minty smell of the floss.
John
A lot of people in Europe use hemp thread, but this is not readily available here in North America (due to concerns that people here would try to smoke it). A good alternative is the type of fine string used in crochet work, like for making doilies. This is strong enough, and you can get large spools of it very cheap. As has been noted by others, you can wax this down with beeswax. Both are available from hobby craftshops.
djm
For me, yellow hemp and a lump of beesewax does nicely.
I attempt to stay away form waxed threads on wooden parts. Good quality sewing thread wrapped with care is virtually leak proof.
I use cotton thread with about the first foot of it waxed with black piper’s wax to make it stick to the combing.