Help Me!

[isantop]

So I got a Practice Chanter for my birthday last week, and I love it so much. I'm teaching myself so far, with hopes of finding a mentor soon, but for now it's okay. Anyway, I had been playing it rather heavily last weekend, and found the hemp joining the blowpiece had swollen a bit and seized the joint. So, I figured I should let it dry out, and not force the joint apart. It does get a bit chilly in my house during the day when no one is home, but I hadn't thought of this, and figured it wouldn't be enough to cause major swelling or anything.

Well, you can imagine my surprise this evening when I went to try and loosen the joint to find that the wooden section of the blowpiece had split, very cleanly, from the bottom by the joint to where the plastic tip joined with it! Obviously, it can't hold enough air pressure to make the reed sound, and the whole setup is only playable by playing the reed directly, which I am hesitant to do due to excess moisture.

Is there any way to fix the problem? It has split a good 1/16th of an inch, but I love my chanter, can't get another one, and don't want this bad incident to ruin my entire piping experience so early on.

[Mr. Woolery]

I've seen some really bad splits. I've repaired one really awful one and a few minor ones.

I'll tell you the two repair methods I know of, but when you have it fixed, please make a practice of taking the top off when you are done playing. Store it with the top off so it can dry out. And even self-taught pipers will generally tell you to get an instructor if you can manage it. There are a lot of potential pitfalls with piping and you need someone who can help you out of them. Many bands offer free or very cheap lessons. Look into it.

Okay, the fix:

If you don't care how it looks, the usual fix is to wrap with electric tape. Seals it up, you're done. Ugly as sin. Couple of pipers at band practice have this fix and are fine with it. I'm not, though.

If you do care how it looks, the repair process is fairly involved. First, collect these items: scrap of wood the same color as what you want to repair (if it is a blackwood chanter, go to a hardwood dealer and ask for grenadillo wood - you only need a tiny scrap), a small bottle of thick/slow CA glue (hobby store), small bottle of thin/fast CA glue, beeswax, sharp pocketknife, flat file.

First use the file to make some dust with the wood scrap. You only need enough to pack into the crack. Don't do it yet, though.

Second, run a bead of the thick CA into the bottom of the crack. Don't fill it, just give a solid bed of glue to seal it up. Let this dry about four times as long as the bottle says.

Third, rub some beeswax along both sides of the crack. Be very careful not to get any into the crack, though. This is one of the more exacting steps. The idea is to make a wax dam that will prevent any sloppiness with the thin CA from wrecking your chanter's looks. I learned about this step the hard way.

Fourth, pack that wood dust into the crack. If anything, you want it to mound slightly above the level of the surrounding wood. This will do two things. It creates a strong matrix for the thin CA to flow into. It also makes the crack a whole lot less obvious. How much depends on how well you matched the color of the wood scrap.

Fifth, put one drop of thin CA onto the wood dust in the crack. Wait for it to soak in, then put another drop where it still looks dry. Even with the wax protecting your finish, try hard not to get any CA anywhere other than on the wood dust that is in the crack. One drop at a time, saturate the wood dust with thin CA. Let it cure for at least an hour. I don't care what the bottle says, give it an hour.

Sixth, use your sharp blade to pare down the repair until it is flush with the surrounding wood. This isn't hard, but it is very fiddly. Make sure you have good light.

Sometimes, a light buff over the repair with 400 grit sandpaper makes it blend a little better. You decide.

If you did this carefully, your chanter is now as good as new and very pretty. If not, it is sort of sloppy looking but functional.

-Patrick