choosing blowpipe length?

meemtp · Post by **meemtp** » Thu May 31, 2007 5:27 pm

I had a leather blowpipe on one of my pairs of bellows that finally gave up the ghost. I always felt like it was too short, so I've got some washing machine hose that I'm using to try to dial in a good length for the tube. I have a hard time deciding which length works best, any tips for getting the "proper' length?

sturob · Post by **sturob** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:09 pm

Kind of all depends on where you put the bellows and the bag. I realize that sounds stupid, but it's true.

If you've got a 3/4 or 4/4 set, and you can reach the regs comfortably, and the bellows isn't in the way . . . then it's right!

I think. I mean, people put their bags all over the place, so it's really up to you. If you thought your last blowpipe was too short, then it was.

Last time I was messing with blowpipes, I went to a hardware store and bought a bunch of plastic tubing the right diameter (I took the actual blowpipe from the bag to check fit). Then I just played with the length until it was right. Cheap, easy way to experiment.

Stuart

meemtp · Post by **meemtp** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:16 pm

Ok, thanks! That's basically what I'm doing. I guess I wondered if it just made too much sense...

Hans-Joerg · Post by **Hans-Joerg** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:26 am

You can also "roll you own": Get some thinnish and square leather. Width: required length of your hose, Length: Twice the circumference of your hose. Wrap it round a piece of round metal (a tube e. g.) or plastic, of your required (approximately) inner diameter. Glue the second layer with any kind of wood-glue. Fix it with a fathom or a tape and let dry over night. Pull out the rod (it should not be from wood cause this might be difficult then). Wrap the ends of the leather hose strongly with a strong fathom onto pieces of tube that fit onto your blowpipe and your bellows (pieces of your old hose e. g.).
Cheers,
Hans

djm · Post by **djm** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:56 am

I got some 0.5" ID hose for a pond pump, sold at gardening centres for pennies per foot. My current blowpipe from this material is 1.5' long. In other words, I can move the bag and bellows around as much as I want without the one affecting the other. They both move totally independent of one another, which I find is much more comfortable and easy to adjust. When I reach out to tune the bass drone, the bellows no longer pulls the bag out of alignment.

Think outside the box. Try different arrangements to find what suits you, as opposed to what your pipemaker delivered, or sticking only to what you've seen other pipers do. This is one of the great lessons I learned from Paddy Keenan, who is notorious for arranging his set to suit himself to make playing easier.

djm

maze · Post by **maze** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 8:15 am

i found several years ago that a longer blowpipe allows for more comfort and flexibility.... and as stated, cheap radiator hose or clear aquarium hose works well as you can start long, and then simply cut off lengths until you find the right length.

kieran o'hare told me years ago that he felt longer is better (no jokes) so the bag and bellows just naturally sit where they should be without one having to move them into place (i.e. push up under arm) when transitioning between sitting and drinking (or whatever) and playing.

mine is a total of somewhere around 16" from bag to bellows... was longer once (when i had a bigger gut) and shorter once or twice.... but in general the total length should be somewhere near the width of the person using it so bag is automaticall pushed back under arm, which helps to position the regulators into the correct placement.