I’ve noticed some of the pipe makers advertise hand rolled brass. Is there an advantage to “hand rolled” as opposed to pre-fab brass tubing.
Does anyone have any good resourses on the process of hand rolling brass, if so please drop me a line.
Mike
Is this with regards to the tubing in set-making or staples? I can’t see that there would be much difference in set-making tubing being hand-rolled (except that you get the specific ID that you want instead of depending on what is manufactured). In staples, most people agree that hobby-tubing is pretty much the same as a hand-rolled staple. Keep in mind, however, that many people still hand-roll their staples. The shape of a hand-rolled staple is also slightly different and we all know what effects slight differences can have on tone. So it’s mostly a matter of opinion. I have used both kinds of staples and frankly both sound great, even if they sometimes sound different (but that’s not neccesarily a function of the staple). When I make reeds, I usualy use the hobby-tubing to save some time. It’s also convenient if you want to use your reed in a tuning-slide. When I’m feeling old-fashioned, I’ll hand-roll.
Dionys
I just assumed the reference was for the pipes in general Dionys. I am familiar with hobbie tubing for reed making,but i kinda like the idea of making from scratch, and was just searching for links that might go into detail on rolling brass. I have experience in plate and sheet metal fabrication, but have never worked on anything on this scale(small scale).
geber,
when pipemakers refer to ‘hand rolled’ generally, it’s all the tubular metal work used in making pipes. Ferrels, drones, main stock, feed tube, etc. Obviously not an easy process.
If you’re just interested in hand rolled staples, take a look at Seth Gallagher’s reedmaking workshop: http://www.uilleann.com/reeds.html
there are several diagrams and text on the subject.
Dionys,
Do you change your recipe when making reeds with hand rolled staples?
The main advantage of making your own tubing lays in the fact that tubes, ferrels, Hm ferrules can be tapered. Which is a lot more pleasing to the eye than your average stuff from the plumbers supply. And it’s not that hard to do actually.
…
If I bought a set of pipes when I was twenty and the ferrules didn’t fall off until I was seventy I wouldn’t complain!
I don’t know, brendan… you might be pretty cranky by age 70. “Goldang ferrules fell off after only 50 years!!” 
…
Reminds me of a Gary Larson cartoon where someone like Beethoven goes to Hell and is shown into a room full of banjo players!
Yes. Being asked to play the banjo for the rest of eternity would be hellish. Or even worse, being asked to sit and listen to people learning the banjo. Having a fresh new class every year or so.
Then again. I kind of like the banjo when it’s time for bluegrass or scenes from Deliverance.
Dionys
Someone once said, “God bless those that can play the banjo, and God bless those that can and choose not to even more”
or was that quote about the pipes?..
I can’t document it, but I have a strong hunch that the original joke was:
“What is the definition of a gentleman piper? Someone who knows how to play the pipes but doesn’t.”
It is commonly told now as the definition of a “gentleman”, rather than a “gentleman piper”, which strikes me as implausible because there’s no particular association between gentlemen and piping. It’s probably due to the fact that the notion of a gentleman piper (i.e. a reasonably wealthy amateur piper) is no longer understood, since for many years there were hardly any professional pipers and most amateurs would not have regarded themselves as gentlemen in the 18th/19th-Century sense. Actually even the 20th-Century notion of a gentleman seems to have become rather archaic.
You get the same thing in cricket, where they used to distinguish between “gentlemen” and “players”. The gentlemen were amateurs, and referred to as “Mr. [surname]”, whereas the players were professionals, and referred to by just their surnames. The Guardian recently had an item about a cricket team (as recently as the 1920s or 30s, as far as I remember), of which it was reported that “The captain was X, because no gentlemen were available”. I think there may still be similar subtle distinctions in the world of horse racing.
Am I being pedantic enough? Should we continue this discussion on the NPU forum?
I’m quite certain the original canon actually read, “God bless those apartment-dwellers who practice banjo and pipes alternately, so as to be less annoying.”
BC
OOOK!!! hand rolled brass kinda faded off into the sunset…LOL
But seriously, anyone know of any good resourses for the hand rolling of brass??
Both Geoff ooff and David Quinn have written extensively on the subject, in the SRS journal vol1 and the Piper’s review respectively.