what lubericant for tuning pins?

Uilleann Pipes
1

Howdy, I have an O’ Grady set of drones & regs.. the tuning pins are quite.. sticky
Before just pouring 3 in 1 oil on it, what’s the preferred lube for these beasties?
Brass pins going through what could be Cherry..not 100% sure what he used

Much appreciate any advice..
~Rich

2

Ah man, I had an O’Grady half set as one of my early sets. I regret selling it. It was well in tune with itself and helped me over the first hurdles of playing. Best wishes. I’m not sure of the answer. It might as easy as lip balm. Similar to woodwind grease.
Best

3

wow.. you saying woodwind grease just reminded me… I think I have some of that right in my woodshop!
aiiieeeyeeee!
thanks!!

Nice to hear you liked yer O’ Grady set..
It’s gonna be a learning curve fer sure… Looking fwd to the challenge
Cheers!
~Rich

4

I found this stuff to be great on a set of old Northumbrian pipes.
https://www.doctorsprod.com/product-page/doctor-slick-cork-grease

5

Forgot to ask, do you know if there is a cause for the stickiness.
Addressing that directly might solve the problem faster.

6

found it..

7

they sat around for sometime, so I’m assuming whatever was on there may have dried out..

8

I think it is usual to have cork glands to seal the end caps… the tuning pins need to be a nice fit through the cork and a little lubricating grease, vaseline or similar ( if needed) will keep things moving.
It is not easy to find good quality cork these days but those used for Champagne are usually okay and don’t have a jagged hole made by a corkscrew.

9

I wonder if most of the better quality cork gets snatched up by the larger instrument makers like Yamaha and such.

10

Cork grease and tuning slide grease are two different things with different functions. I would stay away from anything claiming to be both. Traditionally, cork grease never said on the packaging what was in it but was usually a petroleum product sometimes containing something like lanolin. The doctors products cork grease mentioned is entirely plant based. It’s very slippery and contains slippery elm bark. A tiny bit goes a long way. There are also other brands that are all plant. On instruments like clarinets, petroleum based grease can eventually start to dissolve the adhesive that attaches the cork band to the wood tenon.

11

Interesting. Never heard that before. In fact, Patrick Von Huene, noted recorder and flute maker was quite insistent that I use petroleum jelly as cork grease when he re-corked my flute. That was maybe 10 years ago and thus far the cork has held up quite well.

Best wishes.

Steve

12

You need a water based lubricant, I always keep a tube of KY gel in my pipe box .

RORY

13

As the OP, I hereby authorise all manner of tasteless jokes to be unleashed…