A little Scottish bagpipe turning ...

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johnpipe108

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John Meshkoff
I"ve started another bagpipe project, this time the Great Highland Bagpipe (aka 'GHB'). I started with the bass drone top:

GHBmin_Bass-top-dscf1472.jpg


Of course, I did say "little Scottish bagpipe..." :

GHBmin_Bass-top-size-dscf1470.jpg


It is, in fact, a 1:6 scale (aka "play scale" same as "Barbie Scale") model! I was first thinking of 1:12 scale to suit the models I've already made, but 1:6 is difficult enough!

Here's the top end:

GHBmin_Bass-top-end-dscf1471.jpg


Made of African Blackwood (same as the top-quality real thing) left over from the 1x1x12 turning square I bought for the NSP project. I bored the 1.92" long blank 1/8", then put a 1/8" hobby-brass tube down the top where the tone-bore would be, just above the tuning-slide area at the bottom; provides the simulation of the center bushing seen on a real drone, while making the center-section stronger, as it's only about .145 OD in the slim section. The really hard part was making the top rim brass ring and turning the tiny rebate for it.

I'm seriously considering making the projecting-mounts and chanter-sole from the small scraps of mammoth-ivory left from the NSP project.

We have a resident's craft-faire coming up in June, so this was an idea of something to display, and possibly sell (I'd have to charge a pretty respectable price, though; it takes almost more time to make these tiny pieces than it would to make them full-size!). This was the first idea I could come up with related to making something that could be sold.

I'm making an initial estimate that it will probably take about 50 hours work to complete all 17 separate tiny wood pieces that make up the GHB; this first piece took several hours, from cutting down the wood to finishing (that time also includes searching for the bottom ferrule after I dropped it; had to move the lathe and sweep up before I found it!).

Regards, John
 

ErnieM

Ernie
Corporate Member
I"ve started another bagpipe project, this time the Great Highland Bagpipe (aka 'GHB'). I started with the bass drone top:

We have a resident's craft-faire coming up in June, so this was an idea of something to display, and possibly sell (I'd have to charge a pretty respectable price, though; it takes almost more time to make these tiny pieces than it would to make them full-size!). This was the first idea I could come up with related to making something that could be sold.

I'm making an initial estimate that it will probably take about 50 hours work to complete all 17 separate tiny wood pieces that make up the GHB; this first piece took several hours, from cutting down the wood to finishing (that time also includes searching for the bottom ferrule after I dropped it; had to move the lathe and sweep up before I found it!).

Regards, John

John,

First of all, you do beautiful work. Making miniatures for sale is tough - I've tried it without success. We try to make them as realistic as humanly possible (my avatar is actually a photo of one of my miniature harpsichords) and the difficulty of the work is neither understood or appreciated. While craftspeople rarely get just compensation for their work, it seems even more difficult to get a decent price for your labor when dealing with miniatures. I've had a couple of miniatures on display at the WONC gallery for the past three years without even a nibble. In tough economic times people would rather eat than buy a well-crafted miniature. Even in good times when there is more disposable income floating around, you have to find the right venue in which to offer miniatures for sale. I've never found that venue. If you find it, please let me know.

I'm enjoying your bagpipe how-to's. Keep 'em coming.

Ernie
 

johnpipe108

New User
John Meshkoff
A UP player once said that "A perfect chanter would be one without any holes." So, I have a perfect chanter, without any holes:

GHBmin_Chanter1-dscf1473.jpg


A view from the business end:

GHBmin_Chanter2-dscf1474.jpg


I managed to get a 0.040/0.042 connection from each end to the center, as I did not drill the piece through beforehand; usual situation of the work evolving as it goes along. Got a step-bore started for the reamer that's on it's way.

I'm working up a plan for a jig to immobilize and support the chanter for all further drilling and reaming; I'll use engineer's wax (beeswax and rosin mixture) to "freeze" the chanter inside a close-fitting brass tube that will also be the drill-guide for the tuning and finger holes. After all other machining operations are complete, I'll heat and melt out the wax.

With a little luck, and God's will, may it come out successfully!

Getting prepared for the standing parts, the mammoth-ivory projecting mounts starting roughing down:

GHBmin_Mounts-qty-dscf1479.jpg


Those are four projecting mounts, next to a 1-inch/8-TPI spindle! A roughly-squared blank was first drilled though 1/8-inch mounted in my NOVA midi chuck in the 25mm jaws; afterward mounted between centers as shown here being driven for shaping. For the ivory tooling I'm mainly using a pyramid-point tool, ground from a cheap harbor-fright triangular file, and of course honed and stropped.

John
 
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