BAGPIPE> Oiling pipes
Jeanne Eichelberger
Since the question of oiling a wooden practice chanter has come up, may I ask
for people's thoughts on oiling pipes? I have heard the following completely
contradictory views from 3 experienced pipers, all of whose pipes sound fine:
1) I've never oiled my pipes in over 20 years.
2) NEVER oil your pipes just after you've played them. The drones will be
moist, and the oil will trap the moisture in the pores of the wood, and this
will eventually cause the wood to crack.
3) ALWAYS oil your pipes right after you've finished playing them. The drones
will be warm, and this means the pores of the wood will be more open and will
more readily absorb the oil.
OK, folks. What's the score here? I confess to having followed all 3 of the
above paths: going for several years at a stretch without oiling, oiling dry
pipes, and oiling right after playing. At this point I'm intimidated into
doing nothing and would welcome any credible theories, folkloric, scientific
or other. Jeanne Eichelberger
Turpen, David T.
Oiling depends on the climate more than anything else. The last time
this subject came up, that's about the only conclusion we could agree
on. If you live in a damp climate, you don't really need to oil. In a
dry climate, you might. I think "climate" might refer to where you do
most of your playing, ie in the winter you're inside in the dry indoor
air, as well as the overall geographic place you live.
I think it also depends on the wood (quality as well as age), and how
often the pipes are played (played more often = needs oiling less
often?).
I live in coastal New England and I oil about twice a year, once in
springtime and again at the end of the outdoor season. Or just before
and just after the indoor season, to put it another way. It didn't help
my first set, which cracked in a couple of places, but I think that was
due to overhemping/ too much teflon at the joint.
When I oil, I time it so that the pipes are dry.
Dave
> ----------
> From: Jeanne Eichelberger
> Sent: Friday, March 13, 1998 12:15 PM
> To: bag...@piobaire.mines.uidaho.edu
> Subject: BAGPIPE> Oiling pipes
Jim McGillivray
Back in the late 1980s, Bob Hardie, perhaps the most successful bagpipe
maker ever, told me he saw no reason ever to oil a set of pipes. He did
concede that you might consider it if they'd lain idle for many years,
but only after I'd suggested it.
Jim McGillivray
Aurora, Ontario
On Fri, 13 Mar 1998, Jeanne Eichelberger wrote:
> Since the question of oiling a wooden practice chanter has come up, may I ask
> for people's thoughts on oiling pipes? I have heard the following completely
> contradictory views from 3 experienced pipers, all of whose pipes sound fine:
> 1) I've never oiled my pipes in over 20 years.
> 2) NEVER oil your pipes just after you've played them. The drones will be
> moist, and the oil will trap the moisture in the pores of the wood, and this
> will eventually cause the wood to crack.
> 3) ALWAYS oil your pipes right after you've finished playing them. The drones
> will be warm, and this means the pores of the wood will be more open and will
> more readily absorb the oil.
> OK, folks. What's the score here? I confess to having followed all 3 of the
> above paths: going for several years at a stretch without oiling, oiling dry
> pipes, and oiling right after playing. At this point I'm intimidated into
> doing nothing and would welcome any credible theories, folkloric, scientific
> or other. Jeanne Eichelberger
>
Jim McGillivray jmcg...@nypl.north-york.on.ca
Public Relations & Planning +1 416 395-5515
"Views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect
the position of the North York Public Library."
Michael F. Flemming
In message
<Pine.LNX.3.91.980313...@mercury.nypl.north-york.on.ca> - Jim
McGillivray <jmcg...@NYPL.North-York.On.Ca> writes:
:>
:>
:>Back in the late 1980s, Bob Hardie, perhaps the most successful bagpipe
:>concede that you might consider it if they'd lain idle for many years,
:>but only after I'd suggested it.
:>
:>Jim McGillivray
:>Aurora, Ontario
:>
Les Cowell, founder of David Naill, once told me the same thing. I have three
instruments, all bought new, none ever oiled, none ever cracked. I live in
Chicago where we have humid summers and very dry indoor air in the winter. I'd
be interested to know if pipers in other climates have ever experienced
cracking on a never-oiled instrument that lasted its first few years without
cracking.
(from the Dark Side of Planet OS/2)
Stuart R. Hall
In article <1998031317...@piobaire.mines.uidaho.edu>, Jeanne
Eichelberger <JEIC...@bingvmb.cc.binghamton.edu> wrote:
> OK, folks. What's the score here? I confess to having followed all 3 of the
> above paths: going for several years at a stretch without oiling, oiling dry
> pipes, and oiling right after playing. At this point I'm intimidated into
> doing nothing and would welcome any credible theories, folkloric, scientific
> or other. Jeanne Eichelberger
I don't think oiling is necessary, really, based on having had the same
contradictory advice as you have had. The simple fact that there are a lot
of pipers with pipes 20+ years old, with no cracks, says that it's at least
not imperative that all pipes be oiled. You know, I don't know if anyone
knows the stats, but how many pipes which have been oiled do crack?
I grew up in the humid-summer-cold-winter-heated-indoor climate that
the other piper mentioned . . . I USED to oil my pipes with . . . you
guessed it . . . lemon furniture polish. I have an Irish flute which I
have oiled (and which I plan to oil regularly). I haven't oiled my GHB
in . . . yeesh, must be six years, and it's fine.
A couple of things may have led to pipe oiling. First, there are a lot of
old pipes made from ebony, which is nowhere near as oily as so-called
African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon, I think). Ebony is more likely
than is blackwood to crack with wet-dry-wet-dry changes. Second, oiling
DOES do something that we GHBers don't talk about much. The oil tends to
smooth out imperfections in the bores. I don't know if you've ever paid much
attention to it, but the chanter sounds a little different ("cleaner") just
after being oiled. It also seems to me my drones (80s Hardies) are somewhat
better-behaved when oiled. So, that's another consideration.
As to the best oil . . . I have it from very reliable sources that the BEST
oil for oiling woodwinds is almond oil. You can get it as a cooking oil in
most health food stores. While it is itself rich in antioxidants, most people
advocate adding some vitamin E to it to help keep it fresh. Almond oil is
good because it's (a) not too greasy, as oils go, and (b) not too prone to
polymerization. Makes a nice oil.
If you ARE going to oil, then the advice you received about oiling the pipes
when warm is good advice. Actually, it's probably best to oil them after,
say, a particularly pipe-busy week, so that the wood is good and moist.
Stuart
Gryffyn
Stuart R. Hall wrote:
>
> I don't know if you've ever paid much
> attention to it, but the chanter sounds a little different ("cleaner") just
> after being oiled.
True.
> It also seems to me my drones (80s Hardies) are somewhat
> better-behaved when oiled.
My '80s Hardies, too.
--
Gryffyn
aka:
Scott R. Leslie
web page: http://www.svn.net/srleslie
e-mail: mailto:srle...@svn.net
Kevin Scott
Well, Well, again,
Here we go again. Your pipes are wood for the most part. Plastic pipers
ignore me please. You are blowing moisture through your pipes. You are
also playing in humid conditions. Your wooden pipes will absorb
moisture. You can control what type of moisture and how much by oiling
them. Bore oil is very slow to evaporate. The moisture you blow through
your pipes does evaporate quickly. Your pipes will swell and shrink if
you allow this to happen. This is not an ideal situation for good wood.
Kevin Scott
Donald Smith
Here is what I have found as a pipemajor. (I have observed the effects
of oiling and the lack of on many different brands of pipes). If you
have a fair abount of humidity where you live, you probbably don't have
to oil them.(although I think it would be wise...better safe than sorry)
If you live in a dry desert climate with rapid extreems of temp.like I
do, and you don't oil your pipes WILL CRACK no doubts about it. Many of
my students have learned this the hard way when they didn't follow my
advise. Oiled pipes seem to do well if oiled faithfully. Soaked pipes
(in an oil bath seem to be able to go through hell and back and do fine.
I think it improves the tone of the drones as well especially in a dry
climate. In a humid climate the difference would probbably be less
noticable due to the higher moisture content in the wood.)
Good luck, and as Dave always, your milage may vary.
Don Smith
--
PIPER AT LARGE (sd...@utah.uswest.net)
White Peaks Pipe Band
http://www.angelfire.com/ut/sdon/index.html
Stuart R. Hall
In article <350CA7...@pop3.concentric.net>,
piob...@pop3.concentric.net wrote:
> Well, Well, again,
> Here we go again. Your pipes are wood for the most part. Plastic pipers
> ignore me please. You are blowing moisture through your pipes. You are
> also playing in humid conditions. [snip]
You know, Kevin, it's nice and all for you to act like we're all being
idiots. The fact remains that just because wood's "alive" and shrinks and
swells doesn't mean we need to oil. Do you know how much a drone expands
when moist? Or how much it would shrink when it dries out? Maybe blackwood
doesn't move enough to matter! There are WAY too many pipers and perhaps
more importantly pipeMAKERS who say that we don't need to oil And, there
are too many pipes without cracks.
Stuart
Dr. Martyn Brown
I have too agree that you should NEVER oil an old set of pipes which have never
been oiled before. I once read an article which claimed that if you oil an old set
which have never been oiled you shock the wood and it can crack Exactly the same
thing happened to me, unfortunately after I read the article. However, oiling a
new set seems perfectly okay. Must be something to do with what the wood gets used
to over the years.
Yours, never oiled his pipes since
Mad Newfie
Jeanne Eichelberger wrote:
> Since the question of oiling a wooden practice chanter has come up, may I ask
> for people's thoughts on oiling pipes? I have heard the following completely
> contradictory views from 3 experienced pipers, all of whose pipes sound fine:
> 1) I've never oiled my pipes in over 20 years.
> 2) NEVER oil your pipes just after you've played them. The drones will be
> moist, and the oil will trap the moisture in the pores of the wood, and this
> will eventually cause the wood to crack.
> 3) ALWAYS oil your pipes right after you've finished playing them. The drones
> will be warm, and this means the pores of the wood will be more open and will
> more readily absorb the oil.
co...@geocities.com
In article <stuart-1603...@bay8.bcm.onramp.net>,
Stuart,
Actually, I've been seeing a lot of pipes that have cracked lately,
unfortunately the majority are relatively new ones. I think this may be
due to the wood not being aged properly before being turned.
Regardless, the older pipes that are cracking where NOT oiled by their
owners.
It makes perfect sense to take the precaution to maintain your investment by
oiling at least once a year. I do and many in our band does also. The ones
that don't generally have cracks in their pipes.
So, I'd say there is someting to be said about oiling.
Piob Mhor - More Pipes!!!
Brian C.
Web Major for http://www.stcolumcille.com/
-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
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Kevin Scott
Stuart,
Okay, let me put another way. Wood will absorb moisture if left
unfinished. You have the choice of leaving it this way and hope that it
is stable enough that one day it won't crack as it is shrinking while it
dries. Or you can apply the moisture yourself by oiling your pipes and
not allow the wood the opportunity the crack for this reason. I'm simply
stating a fact known by most wood workers and owners of fine wooden
objects. This isn't something I've invented on my own. It is a fact
widely recognized. As with everything to do with your pipes you can
control the instrument or the instrument will control you. And I
apologize if the above has made you feel like an idiot again.
Kevin Scott