A Chairde,
My regs need sorted, some of the pins have come out and i have lost them and i have broken quite a few springs.At present they are held together with a collection of good will, hair bands, fuse wire and paper clips.Does anybody know where i could learn how to make the springs, where i could get the material for them and for the pins and what to ask for? Also is there a cure for loose keys(on the chanter).I play a rogge set it sounds great but i just want to tighten it up as it may not sound great tomorrow. I live in Belfast if that is a help to anyone.
For pins, 1.5 mm silver solder seems to do the trick (cold, not hot)
You can cut it with flush cutters and file the edges down. To prevent loss and make removal easier I like to turn the ends down the way most flute pins are done.
You can use the same material for rivets. And you can buy phosphor bronze springs premade, in different thicknesses (easier than making them, and probably more uniform in temper, so they may last longer than the handmade ones). Contact me offlist, I can prolly get you some.
You can also use fine brass brad nails for pins and trim as Bill suggests. For springs, it depends on what your individual pipemaker used - spring steel or coiled springs. You would be best to contact the maker on this. For best results you might be better to have the pipemaker do the work for you.
I have a bunch of Blue spring steel strips I bought for springs, but the stuff is so hardened you cannot even drill a hole in it for a rivet…Any Ideas…
If you happen to have a street sweeper truck go by your house, walk along behind it for a while. The bristles drop off every no and then and are very good for making into springs. Pipe maker friend of mine uses them with great success for flat springs.
I have a bunch of Blue spring steel strips I bought for springs, but the stuff is so hardened you cannot even drill a hole in it for a rivet…Any Ideas…
I have (almost) always used clarinet springs, originally blued steel, then phosphur bronze when they became available and after many steel ones broke. The steel ones seem to do fine unless you live near the ocean where they have a hard time with the salt air seemingly. Any woodwind supply place will have them in various sizes.
Are Clarinet springs wound round the ‘axle’ of post-mounted keys or can they be used for block mounted keys as well and would you need to cut a groove in the key to reveal the pin so the spring can be wound round the pin…if that makes sense?
Clarinet springs are flat leaf springs like the ones traditionally used on uillean pipes, not needle or coil springs. They come pre formed with holes mounting them on the keys. They are generally held on with small screws rather than riveted, a much better arrangment I think.
