warm climate bag seasoning advice?

Uilleann Pipes
1

I have a bag made of what that was sold as ‘bag pipe’ leather that has proven itself to be quite porous. I inflated the bag and held it under water to see that it is leaking right through - almost uniformly.

I need to seal this bag and I’m hoping for a solution that will not bleed through the leather. This happened to a set that I purchased that was sealed with (too much?) traditional bag seasoning…made a real mess and ultimately the bag and the leather on the bellows had to be replaced.

Does anyone have useful advice, proprietary solutions or recipes for a sealer that is suited for warm climates?

2

Ultimately, you may have to replace the bag. consider looking at http://www.kellehertrad.com/index.php/catalogsearch/result/?q=lbaf+lbgw+lblong.
I’ll take at stab at a possible course of action, but really. . .

Most bags are rough side out. Mine is bass=awkward to this so I’ve followed a slightly different course through the years. . .that is applying my seasoning to the outside and massaging it into the leather.

When the leather itself proves porous you have to fill up the pores with something. . .one common ingredient is beeswax. A lot of recipes feature something to ‘carry’ the beeswax in solution to penetrate into the leather. Olive oil, Neetsfoot, Murphy’s Oil Soap, lanolin. . .you get the idea.

Problem is, the oil is usually the cause for bleed through.

I use hand lotion as the vehicle to carry the beeswax. Typically something like Johnson & Johnson Intensive Care. It’s mostly Polypropylene Glycol, and esters of Glycol, a little fragrance, and preservative. It’s good for your paws, and won’t hurt the leather. It dries (mostly) in a few minutes to several hours. A little gentle heat from a hairdryer helps the mix to go into the leather as I massage it.

A glop of lotion, some softened wax, some heat, massage. . .rinse and repeat as needed.

If it were me, I’d work from the outside to be sure of a thorough application. It’ll ‘dry’ (mostly) in a hour. But really I would have already condemned the bag. . .

Another suggestion. This is from the outer fringes of lunacy. Try the heavy silicon ‘grease’ Bob Keenan has suggested. HOWEVER, this stuff is a b-tch to get off with soap and water, so a heavy bag cover would be in order. . .and even then you might want to test it for ‘bleed through’.

As I said, though, check with Niall Kelleher. He’s good people and you will not be paying the VAT so the prices will be a bit cheaper. . .

Bob

3

I used this bag sealer in Australia and it works well in warm climates, still dépends on not leaving too much of the stuff in your bag though.

One more point before the recipe; when choosing leather to make a bag a simple test for air tightness is to try to suck air through the hide by pressing your mouth onto the shinny side and sucking as hard as you can. This test will need to be made in several places on the hide to make sure it is not porous in some spots.

Recipe: Mix Beeswax with Olive Oil, at about a 50/50 ratio , by warming the two parts in an old pot ( preferably a pot with a small spout to one side)… Warm the mixture slowly and do not allow it to get too hot.
When the two parts are fully mixed spoon out a small amount onto an old dish ( or any thing handy) and allow it to cool to normal room temperature (playing temperature) remembering that the bag gets warm when you are playing so estimate for your top day time temperature ( at least Blood Heat).
Note how stiff the mixture is at this temperature… it should be like Axle Grease consistency… not too hard that it will crack at lower températures and not runny like thick Oil. Adjust the quantities in the pot untill the ideal consistency is achieved.
Warm up the corrected solution again, not too hot but suficiently hot to keep it liquid whilst it is being poured into the Bag… block up any tied-in stocks and pour the warm solution into the bag… about a cup full will do. Then inflate the bag fully ,by mouth, and block off the neck outlet and swing the bag about so that the mixture coats all the internal surfaces… then, whilst still fully inflated, sit on the bag ,so as to press the mixture into the pores of the hide.
Whilst the mixture is still warm pour as much back out through the neck as will flow. Then place the bag on a hard flat surface and use a Rolling Pin (wall paper roller or reedmaking cylindrical block) or any handy thing that you can use to rub on the bag to squeeze as much of the mixture out through the bag neck.
When all is cleaned up, don’t Spill any on the floor because it is terrible slippy, then re-inflate the bag fully and sit on it again, bounce up and down a bit and remain seated for a minute or two… the bag should stay fully inflated… if not then the hide and tanning process are totally useless for this purpose.

You can substitute other cooking oils for Olive… any that do not go Rancid.

Hope this helps.

Geoff.

4

Andreas Rogge sells a bag sealant that is made from bone glue and glycerol (a.k.a., glycerin). It is very easy to use and works very well. It has been discussed on the Forum before but I can’t recall where.

5

my opinion is to replace the bag. I dont doubt that the above mixtures will do the job. You will have to repeat the process every so often no matter what concoction you eventually use. In my own experience i have had disastrous results from several types of ‘dry bag’ seasonings. For my time and trouble it is as “an seanduine” originally suggests. Simply replace the item with a quality bag: my 2 cents.

6

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

I think, however, after getting an e-mail from the owner of the set (a loaner/practice set) that I should probably just replace the bag at this point. If I fail to seal it correctly now, I’ll have to replace it later plus I can always keep it/use it for my own evil experimentation…so it is not a total loss at this point.

As it stands, the leather leaks air as if/the same as if it had drones going - more or less. It is not leaking so as to be unplayable, but when I noticed the loss, I could not leave it alone…so new bag, it will have to be.

Thanks again! Does anyone need a hand bag with a nozzle?

7

You can substitute other cooking oils for Olive… any that do not go Rancid.

Apparently if you squeeze a few capsules of vitamin E into your oil of choice it will stop it from going rancid. I haven’t tried it myself but I’ve heard it works.

Tommy