On 04/04/2010 16:42, Bob Salter wrote:
Hi everyone.
OK, I have my blackwood chanter, Ive lined the keyslots with
some .4mm brass shim. Ive made a (crude, but easy to improve upon) key.
Two questions really, what is the best way to cut the keypad seat, and
given the keys are 2mm thick, what is the best option for attaching the
spring. Mike nelson mentions a 2mm rivet, but he also says that you
shouldnt rivet through the beaten part of the key. That seems a little
difficult to achieve?
Keypad seat: I use seat cutters which produce a slightly conical surface
which gives a better seal than a flat surface. They are fairly easy to
make in the lathe from a short piece of silver steel.
I suspect that with the closed cell foam plastic pads, the conical seat
is less important for sealing but they also look much neater than a flat
filed seat.
A round but flat seat cutter could easily be made from a twist drill by
grinding it flat but would not be suitable unless the chanter is held
firmly in a vice fixed to the drilling machine table, and the drilling
machine has a controlable fine feed. If your drilling setup is less than
ideal, you need a seat cutter with a pilot spigot the same size as the
tone hole which of course is drilled first.
I have a milling machine for all this which after the lathe is the most
useful piece of gear in the workshop. However, I managed without one for
about thirty years!
Springs: I use a 1mm rivet. This is made from 3/64 model-shop wire by
sanding with the belt sander, and I aim for a very slight taper. I also
secure the spring with a small amount of soft solder after riveting and
testing the key. This prevents the spring rotating on the rivet. I do
this because I often send keys for silver plating and it makes them more
resistant to handling.
Lastly a cotton wool plug is mentioned in the chanter bore. How large
should this be?
A couple of cm or so, not (usually) critical.
Just out of curiosity, are there ever any nsp events in Scotland?
Not that I'm aware of.
Cheers
Richard
--
R. Evans
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