A tip passed down from The Great Mark Hillmann:
100% Silicone Caulk
Just a dab on the key. Let sit thirty minutes for “skin” to cover Silicone.
Press key onto the hole to which the Caulk will perfectly conform.
Caveat: Be sure the Caulk is not too terribly wet or it will seal the hole!
Well, there you have it…Perfect Keypads Quod Erat Demonstratum
Sportively,
Innocent
That sound’s like a good Idea, might even add a little pigment to match the color of the key or the wood, either one…
Yeah, I’ve used it twice for flutes.
It’s not bad, but it isn’t perfect.
You might take a look at the flute forum and read about the people who have tried it, and what they recommend.
I might add, that if I were buying a set of pipes, I’d be sorely disappointed if the pads were silicon caulking.
Here’s a link to well-known Australian flute maker Tery McGee’s web page on repadding flutes. Good info and no doubt relevent to pipes as well -
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/repad.html
Lots of other interesting information on his home page - scroll down to the links.
Cheers,
DavidG
…you might want to make sure that you are not using a caulk that uses acetic acid as a curing agent - a catalyst or something. It will supposedly oxidize or corrode some metals, so you might want to avoid it.
If it smells like vinegar when it is wet, it has acetic acid (supposedly). I think GE Silicon II is one that does not use the acid but I would not bet my pipes on it. You might want to do some research or testing first.
Pads of a most suitable quality are manufactured of kid, felt and paper, and these marvelous diminutive tufts are affixed to the key with purpose-formulated shellac. This method, however, would have proved inadequate for the enthusiastic Mr. Innocent. Laughably erroneous spring geometry and excesssive lateral play in the keyslots contributed to the total nonfunctionality of these wretchedly executed liknesses of woodwinds. Indeed, the pad seats of his regulators appeared to have been fabricated by irreverently gouging the timber with a tent stake, leading me to conclude that his pipes had been produced in some distant land by a peoples far removed from the resplendent strains of our sublime and heroic endevour. It was for this reason that I recommended to him the use of silicone. Moreover, in hindsight, I would contend that the most mellifluous tones available from these particular abominations could best be achieved by filling their bores entirely with silicone and further encasing them in a box filled with wet concrete.
I remain sincerely hopeful that the tunefully promising Mr. Innocent’s unfortunate investment in these profane components will not prove so disheartening and detracting as to diminish his pursuit of musicality.
Mark Hillmann
So you didn’t like them then?
djm
They were an undeniable insult to the very trees whence they were hacked.
Permit a masculine distinction: perfect keypads in the natural sense (in re), that is, possessing the efficacious quidity of the exemplary cause.
The author intended, by posting this…um…post, merely to provide a resourceful resolution to that venatic rancor of those bested by failing pads; a sound solution to those who seek sound impairment. He has himself found the silicone solution to be quite splendid, and I happen to agree with myself. We meant in no way for the suggestion to reflect the standard of Master Hillmann’s work but, oppugnantly, to express his ingenuity and pragmatic brilliance, such as would make MacGyver swallow his Swiss and hug a tree.
As evidence of my reverence for the high work of His Grace, I present a picture of my new Hillmann Bellows:
The bellows cheeks are made of an exotic wood that Sir Hillmann calls Industrial Black Wood while the leather is the specially treated hide of the North American Nauga. Indeed these bellows were not cheap (seven-and-a-half times the price of my chanter) but well worth it. He assures me they are top of the line; I believe him. Along with the bellows I purchased the first in Mr. Hillmann’s line of Turbopipes, a design he says is loosely based on the principles of the Schauberger Vortex – I believe the patent was recently purchased from someone named Liestman. For $700 he says it improves my playing ten-fold; I believe him. A worthy investment though aesthetic disappointment – it looks rather like a plastic kazoo. Well, what do I know…
As for Master Hillmann’s testimonious portrayal of my instrument, I would not to it attribute the least literary license; it is a most apposite of nominal definitions, I concede. But so it would also be of any other pipes compared to the craftwork of an “Hillmann-Uilleann” (say that fast and it sounds like a culinary morbidity) as the above evidence should profess to any piper, even those with far too little knowledge to frequently contribute to our good forum. Eh, Mark?
Most Sincerely,
Innocent
… you know, I’d consider this thread a flame war… now, if I could only stop laughing. But in the improbable event that it is… knock it off.
In self defense, I find I must protest.
While I do appreciate Mr. Innocent’s kindly posting of a representation of the veritable apex of human ingenuity, (and this sort of exposure and advertising you just can’t buy) I hope this forum’s kind readers will bear in mind that an image cannot, by its very nature, convey the actual sound quality and timbre of the aforementioned bellows. To be fair, an appropriate opportunity to objectively judge the exquisite tonality of these elegantly fasioned musical mechanisms should be enjoyed first-hand in a concert setting. An heirloom quality bellows unlike any other, it is specificallly engineered to deliver a responsivness, clarity and resonance heretofore unavailable to many performers and it has proven to enhance every user’s level of enjoyment. My, point being, that, quite frankly, it sounds even better than it looks.
Nonetheless, ever since the photo initially apeared, I have been inundated with telephone calls e-mails from experienced performers wanting to confirm their orders for this premium equipment , so that they, too, could envelop their audiences in a luxuriant pillow of unequalled consonance . In hopes that I might best serve the community at large, and in order to meet the high demand, I have begun negotiations with some highly esteemed Chinese guildsmen, who have assured me that they can respectably duplicate the high level of refinement exhibited in the original masterpiece . For quite obvious reasons, meticulous work of this nature requires substantial financial compensation. Dealer inquiries welcomed.
Action figures sold separately.
Batteries not included.
Mark Hillmann
Mr. Hillmann, if in fact you are using the famous Liestman Turbopipes bellows intake mechanism, then you will need to increase the price of these bellows to pay my royalities. My lawyers (ok, its a Jersey guy named Phil) will be in contact with your accounting office to arrange for the payment, including the back payment for all the bellows that you have sold so far using my turbo device. (Phil, get’m buddy! Man we could retire on this puppy!)