Ebony chanters: humidity, wood shrinkage and re-boring

[Oldpiping]

Hello,

I have an ebony chanter by a great maker. He warned/suggested me to keep it at apr. 70% humidity as much time as possible to avoid wood drying and bore shrinkage on the long run, which in his words will happen under 60% and the chanter will need fine tuning/adjustments/re-boring. The chanter came with the reed made in winter - it likes to play in humidity of apr. 40%, since in high humidity it becomes hard to blow. He also mentioned that his reeds sounds the best at high humidity.

So it is tricky to me!?

My questions: Is it common that makers are re-boring chanters from time to time?

Is the new reed made in high humidity the only and best solution?

Thanks for help, Cheers

[CaperMike]

Surprising comments from the maker. Who is the maker or at least where is he based?

My ebony chanter has experienced 35 % humidity in the winter and 65 % in the summer, through more than 15 yearly cycles. It is hard to play in the summer and winter humidity extremes because of reed issues, but once adjusted I haven't noticed any difference in how it plays or sounds, nor does it need a regular re-boring !

Mike

[illwinds]

When a wooden tube dries and shrinks, it's the wall thickness that thins. The outer circumference shrinks, but the inner bore actually expands, so re-boring sounds like odd advice.

[rorybbellows]

Hello,

I have an ebony chanter by a great maker. He warned/suggested me to keep it in 60 to 75% humidity as much time as possible to avoid bore shrinkage, which in his words will happen under 60% and the chanter will need re-boring.

You're a bit late Oldpiping , April fools day was last week.

When a wooden tube dries and shrinks, it's the wall thickness that thins. The outer circumference shrinks, but the inner bore actually expands, so re-boring sounds like odd advice.

When the wood shrinks it shrinks everywhere including the inner surface .

RORY

[pancelticpiper]

Of course Highland chanters are exposed to high amounts of moisture, then dry out between playing, and one would expect the wood to change more than on uilleann chanters.

I will add, though, that "in the old days" it was common for pipe chanters to shrink enough after a couple years playing that pipers would return them to the makers to have the throats reamed out.

In the old days Highland pipes were nearly always made of ebony or cocus- African Blackwood was nearly unheard of in the 19th century, a 3rd wood option in the early 20th century, and didn't push out ebony and cocus until the mid 20th century. So when we're talking old Highland chanters we're usually talking ebony.

[geoff wooff]

I often recall the story told by Michael O'Donovan regarding the woodwind technician who wanted to start making Bassoons but could not do so untill he had sourced a supply of very well seasoned Maple. This would need to be 20 years dry at the least. Or another story told me by Neville Crabb (of the concertina making family) of how his grandfather had cut down a Sycamore tree and had it sawn into 1" boards many years before. One of Neville's jobs, as apprentice, was to take each board and pass it through the thicknesser machine once a year to remove any 'cupping' as the wood dried out. Each board would need 25 years of this treatment untill it arrived at the required thickness for making the reedpans of new concertinas.

With wood seasoning Time and Stability of temperature/humidity are important factors and the denser the wood the longer it will take. One must assume , when purchasing timber, that it is being sold 'Green' and therefore it is advisable to do one's own seasoning. Slowly is best and as long as possible. I like to keep my stock of wood for at least 10 years before starting to make a set from it and then bring it slowly into being a Pipes. Sometimes, due to the fact that I usually buy in bulk, there can be a fluctuation in seasoning times between five and fifteen years. If I am using wood that has not been dried as long as I would like then my start time is extended.... I would bore and rough turn the pieces a year in advance of a proposed finish date.

Even with carefull seasoning the moment one starts to blow wind down the bores of a new Pipes it can be expected that more moisture will depart the wood. If the air is 'super dry' it can cause stresses beyond the normal and is best avoided... hence the sanity of the advice to keep the humidity reasonable when playing, especially with a new set.

Reboring a chanter due to excessive wood shrinkage might be neccessary in very extreme cases.

Reeds that play well at 40% RH should also work well at 75- 85% with a little adjustment, whilst reeds that are happy at 80%+ are more likely to suffer when the RH dips below 40%.

[tompipes]

Where was the chanter made?

The average annual relative humidity in Ireland is 80% (Met Eireann) so when you bring a set of pipes to the US, Australia or Northern Europe where the winter humidity levels indoors can drop to 20%, changes can very well happen.

The same can be said for a chanter made in Alaska and brought to Malaysia, for example. So, I'd say it'd be no harm to send the chanter back to the maker for a quick reaming.

After all, a lot of flute makers will ask customers to return the flute after a year or so for a re-reaming.

Tommy

[Christian Tietje]

Hello Oldpiping,

don't worry and DO NOT think about irreversible changes as long as the chanter was good before. Adjust only by shifting or opening/closing the bridle. That's all and should work between summer and winter - my experience in Germany with 50...70% in summer and 20...25% (inhouse) in winter.