How to refinish Bagpipes
Tim
OK - I need some real help here. I bought a set of early 60's
vintage pipes. They are beautiful - except for the finish of the wood.
It looks as though they had been recoated with varnish some where along
the line. There is no chance to revitalize the existing varnish so off
it comes.
I am in a near state of panic regarding what to refinish the wood
with. I had an old piece of stock laying around (don't ask) and tried a
few ideas. Tung oil went on easy, but highlighted some raised grain
issues. Water based polyurethane went on easy but proved a nuisance to
get a consistant surface finish with. Gloss Varathane went on great -
but looks just like plastic when dry. Rifle stock varnish has been
suggested but not yet tried.
Does anyone have experience with refinishing bagpipes? What can I use
to get a durable, smooth finish? What is the best material to preserve
the integrity of the exterior of the wood? (I'm already using bore oil
on the insides.)
Any help would be most appreciated. Any horror (constructive) stories
will be taken to heart.
Gordon Taylor
Your finish depends on what you would like to see as a result. If you
want a shiny surface, then any oil based varnish will do. If you prefer
a natural matt finish as I do, then merely rub peanut oil onto the wood.
Peanut oil is very light, no additives, and soaks into the wood very
quickly. I dont even wipe it off, just smooth on and let dry.
stripping of the old stuff can best be done with a commercial stripper
called circa 1850. its natural as well and wont hurt the wood, ivory or
silver. good luck.
Peter Crisler
TO: t...@mail.mich.com
TM> Does anyone have experience with refinishing bagpipes? What can I use
>to get a durable, smooth finish? What is the best material to preserve
>the integrity of the exterior of the wood? (I'm already using bore oil
>on the insides.)
> Any help would be most appreciated. Any horror (constructive) stories
>will be taken to heart.
Tim,
I am currently making pipes from Madagascaran Rosewood. I,
too, tried tung oil (Homer Formby brand). I could never get the damn
stuff to dry. What I am now using is boiled linseed oil. I put a
generous amount all over the outside. Let this sit for 30 minutes to an
hour. Wipe off the excess and let dry for 24 hours. Buff with a cotton
cloth and do it all again. After 5-7 coats, it looks great. Not plastic
or too slick. Casey Burns put out a paper a few years ago, and he used
raw linseed oil and super glue. 3 drops of super glue to a tablespoon
of oil. He said it was even better that the boiled oil by itself. I
haven't tried that, yet, but I will.
Peter Crisler Middletown, Ky WD4ARS
Louisville Pipe Band
peter....@worldnet.att.net
* 1st 2.00 #2477 * Ben Kenobi at the dinnertable: Use the Forks, Luke!
Bruce Bush
> OK - I need some real help here. I bought a set of early 60's
> vintage pipes. They are beautiful - except for the finish of the wood.
> It looks as though they had been recoated with varnish some where along
> the line. There is no chance to revitalize the existing varnish so off
> it comes.
> I am in a near state of panic regarding what to refinish the wood
> with. I had an old piece of stock laying around (don't ask) and tried a
> few ideas. Tung oil went on easy, but highlighted some raised grain
> issues. Water based polyurethane went on easy but proved a nuisance to
> get a consistant surface finish with. Gloss Varathane went on great -
> but looks just like plastic when dry. Rifle stock varnish has been
> suggested but not yet tried.
> Does anyone have experience with refinishing bagpipes? What can I use
> to get a durable, smooth finish? What is the best material to preserve
> the integrity of the exterior of the wood? (I'm already using bore oil
> on the insides.)
> Any help would be most appreciated. Any horror (constructive) stories
> will be taken to heart.
I have never refinished a set of bagpipes, but I am a professional
woodworker. I have always favored boiled linseed oil, either straight or
mixed 50/50 with a good polyurethane. The oil takes about three days to
dry, but leaves a pleasant satin finish that is extremely durable. It is
impervious to water, alcohol and other things except for heavy-duty
solvents. The thing to do is to wipe on the oil, let sit a few minutes to
soak in, then wipe off all excess leaving just a thin film. It will take
a number of coats (at least 4) to build up a thick finish, but them you
probably do not want a thick finish on your pipes. One or two should do
it, on a wood as hard as blackwood. Linseed oil brings out the color of
the wood, and can always be refreshed with a bit more oil if you feel the
need to get more shine or clean up a scrape. If you go this route, be
sure to use Boiled linseed oil (not raw). "Boiled" means there are drying
agents added, without which the oil would remain a gooey mess forever. Be
sure to test this on your stock first to make sure you like the look.
Good luck! Bruce Bush
miff...@aol.com
In article <14494.3...@tfd.org>, peter....@tfd.org (Peter Crisler)
writes:
>I am currently making pipes from Madagascaran Rosewood. I,
>too, tried tung oil (Homer Formby brand). I could never get the damn
>stuff to dry. What I am now using is boiled linseed oil.
Most oils need a drier added when used as a finish (a sopposed to a
preservative.) Tung oil or linseed oil work much more easily if about 1/4
lacquer thinner is added. A product called Japan Drier is even better, but
hard to find in some states. You can get a lot of advice in this area by
calling or visiting a paint store that caters to contractors.
Keith Elliott
Royce Lerwick
Wrote: TIM
> From: Tim <t...@mail.mich.com>
> Subject: How to refinish Bagpipes
> Organization: Department of Redundancy Department
>
> OK - I need some real help here. I bought a set of early 60's
> vintage pipes. They are beautiful - except for the finish of the wood.
Polish them with progressively finer steel wool and leave them the hell
alone. Spin them on a lathe if you got one. Lightly oil them and be done
with it. Screw the grain issue--wood has grain. Buy plastic if you want
smooth.
Royce
pmle...@wavetech.net
* Kivi (unregistered) 1.41a *
---------------------- -//- ---------------------
Internet: Royce....@flight.org
Jim McGill
best choice, since it polymerizes and thus won't ooze out in warm
weather and gather dust, the way peanut or olive oil will. I've used it
for several years on a variety of winds and have been pleased with the
results.
Jim
bill.c...@westernasset.com
In article <327FFB...@mail.mich.com> <bmbush-1111...@ppp4-48.igc.org>,
bmb...@igc.apc.org (Bruce Bush) wrote:
> I have never refinished a set of bagpipes, but I am a professional
> woodworker. I have always favored boiled linseed oil, either straight or
> mixed 50/50 with a good polyurethane. The oil takes about three days to
> dry, but leaves a pleasant satin finish that is extremely durable. It is
> impervious to water, alcohol and other things except for heavy-duty
> solvents. The thing to do is to wipe on the oil, let sit a few minutes to
> soak in, then wipe off all excess leaving just a thin film. It will take
> a number of coats (at least 4) to build up a thick finish, but them you
> probably do not want a thick finish on your pipes. One or two should do
> it, on a wood as hard as blackwood. Linseed oil brings out the color of
> the wood, and can always be refreshed with a bit more oil if you feel the
> need to get more shine or clean up a scrape. If you go this route, be
> sure to use Boiled linseed oil (not raw). "Boiled" means there are drying
> agents added, without which the oil would remain a gooey mess forever. Be
> sure to test this on your stock first to make sure you like the look.
> Good luck! Bruce Bush
>
I've refinished pipes with linseed. It works well, the only thing that
makes finishing pipes slightly different is the combing. When applying
an oil finish, the best method is to put it on heated and let
it sit wet for about half an hour or so and then wipe off - hard - the excess.
It's difficult to wipe off the excess caught in the combing. If you
don't remove the excess oil it will turn into a gummy mess that will
both clog the combing and never dry. I found that the only thing that
worked was to tediously clean out the combing with toothpicks.
You can strip the old finish with a chemical stripper, but be sure to test
the mountings first to see if they will discolor. You also want to be
careful if you have any gaps between the wood and mounts - you have to
remove stripper completely or at least neutralize it.
Finally, a good hard (carnauba) paste wax finishes them off nicely. Just
wait several weeks before buffing them out in order to allow the oil finish
to harden off properly.
The quality of an oil finish is more dependent on the surface finish of
the wood itself than other types. After stripping you can get a very
smooth, polished surface using 0000 steel wool, but again, be careful not to damage
the combing. It's easy to flatten it or lose some of the depth. There's
usually a nicely radiused surface between the areas of combing. You should
also be careful not to buff flats into the wood here.
Bill Currier
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Jim McGill
>
> Casey Burns put out a paper a few years ago, and he used
> raw linseed oil and super glue. 3 drops of super glue to a tablespoon
> of oil. He said it was even better that the boiled oil by itself. I
I've used it and it works great. Actually the best way to apply it is to
put a bit of raw linseed oil onto a paper towel (I just put the folded
paper towel over the mouth of the bottle and tip the bottle), put a
couple drops of super glue onto the damp patch and wipe the surface
rapidly (needless to say this is easier if the piece is spinning on the
lathe). Puts a high gloss finish on that is dry instantly. You can build
up several layers and make the finest hardwood look like Delrin (I did
that with some African Black Ivorywood). I usually buff with a piece of
old flannel to take a little of the shine off. By the way, I think that
Rod Cameron invented the finish after he had a couple drops of superglue
land in a bowl of raw linseed oil and found it had set up by the end of
the day.
Jim
Bob Cameron
In article <8478197...@dejanews.com>, bill.c...@westernasset.com wrote:
> X-Article-Creation-Date: Tue Nov 12 17:44:22 1996 GMT
> X-Originating-IP-Addr: 207.93.10.5 (raptor.westernasset.com)
> X-Authenticated-Sender: bill.c...@westernasset.com
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>
> In article <327FFB...@mail.mich.com>
<bmbush-1111...@ppp4-48.igc.org>,
> bmb...@igc.apc.org (Bruce Bush) wrote:
>
e excess.
> It's difficult to wipe off the excess caught in the combing. If you
> don't remove the excess oil it will turn into a gummy mess that will
> both clog the combing and never dry. I found that the only thing that
> worked was to tediously clean out the combing with toothpicks.
>
> Bill Currier
When I used to refinish gunstocks, not so many years ago, I also used
lboiled linseed oil. The checking in the grips of sporting rifle (and some
shotgun) stocks presented a similar problem to the combing on pipe drones.
I used a soft tooth brush to rub small amounts of oil into the checking,
and also to renmove the excess, wiping the brush with a soft cloth to pick
up the oil- might work with the pipes as wellŠ
--
The opinions and feeble attempts at humor herein are not in any way endorsed or acknowledged by my employer , etc etc,
Slan leibh, Bob