| Proper
installation of a chanter sole |
When
installing a silver or artificial
ivory sole, great care must be used
to avoid altering the chanter in
any way. There are no 'standard'
sizes for chanter soles. Some are
longer, some are shorter, and the
thru-holes have no standard diameters.
When retrofitting a sole onto an
existing chanter that has previously
had a sole on it, there are often
times discrepancies in the sizes
used. The method I am describing
here is the only proper way to retrofit
a chanter sole. If any change is
made to the length of the chanter,
tone, pitch, and overall performance
will be greatly compromised.
|
Picture
of the silver sole to be fitted.
When I receive the soles, they are
not threaded.
I threaded this one with a 28 tpi
BSW thread. You'll be glad your
sole is threaded when you see someone
elses go rolling into the gutter.
|
Picture of the foot of the chanter
after I've taken away the old threads
that were too small in OD for the
sole. I used a 30 tpi BSW thread
due to the thin wall. The threads
and face are concentric with the
chanter now. |
This
picture show the blackwood sleeve
with 30 tpi threads that is going
to be threaded onto the foot of
the chanter. The next step is to
turn down the sleeve, and thread
the OD to accept the chanter sole. |
Picture
showing the blackwood sleeve after
it has been threaded onto the chanter.
|
This
picture shows the measuring of the
depth of threads on the chanter
sole.
This measurement is then transferred
to the wood. |
Here
we see the sleeve on the chanter,
after it has been turned down. The
last bit of wood 'you see(with the
largest OD) is going to make up
the difference in length between
the old sole and the new one. This
is the only way to properly do this
without altering the length of the
chanter. |
Here
we see the finished threads cut
into the sleeve, and the bit of
wood at the back that has been turned
into a bead. This is now a seamless
whole. |
Picture
showing the silver sole on the end
of the chanter. You can still see
the original finish on the end of
the chanter which means the length
has been untouched. Also notice
that the silver sits perfectly flush
on the wood. |
Top
of the chanter sole. You can see
the small bead that is part of the
sleeve. It sits on top of the silver
perfectly flush and in just the
right place. This is a fairly time
consuming process, but it is the
only way to do this type of job
properly. |
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