Introduction

The purpose of the information found here is for the education of pipers everywhere. Over the years in emails and conversations with my clients I find myself repeating and explaining the same topics time and time again. There is a dearth of factual information regarding the materials, skill, and techniques involved in the traditional hand making of the Great Highland Bagpipe. What I've realized over the course of my career is that the things I take for granted and have assumed that even my own clients must surely know, is far from reality. My goal is to create an area on my website that I can point my customers to in order to gain a better understanding of their instrument, because an educated consumer is my best customer. I will be adding content and information to this section as time permits.

African Blackwood

This is an amazing material -- hard, dense, and with a very fine grain that on the very best pieces can be nearly imperceptible. I'm often asked why the wood on my instruments looks so much better than other makers, if I have a special supplier. I buy wood in small quantities from a few private suppliers and also in large quantity from the same suppliers that all makers have access to. The single reason why I am the de facto industry leader in wood quality isn't because of my supplier, it's because of a very strict and rigid set of standards, mine.

By nature, Blackwood is one of the most inherently flawed woods in use. Raw billets all look perfect until you start the process of roughing, turning, and boring. Flaws, or rather imperfection, start to show as each piece of wood begins to go through the various stages of making. Some of the wood can be culled during the first stages but most flaws do not present until you've put time into them, until they've been bored, they've been sitting and you then go to choose them for a set of pipes. Some of the imperfections, even a knot 1/16" in size may not show up until the very final process, in which case, despite the long hours already invested, a craftsman of reputation has no choice but to scrap the offending piece and start from scratch. This means that half of my time goes into working with pieces that will never leave my workshop.

This is nothing out of the ordinary for any high-end instrument maker. Years ago I had a long phone call with an employee from Steinway pianos whose job was to buy all their wood. He would hand pick the wood for their soundboards by visiting their wood vendors, going through their stock thoroughly and using his experience to select each piece. Still, with the enormous advantage of choosing the wood upon close inspection -- Steinway would reject 40% of these pieces. The rejects were not recycled for other parts of the piano.

While the production output of my one-man workshop is very small, the amount of wood I discard is quite large. I have a zero tolerance policy for any flaws or imperfections or any piece of wood that I consider substandard, that to the casual observer may seem fine. My concept of sub-par includes any obvious flaw, any knot no matter how large or small, twisted grain, excessive open grain, light in color or density, striped or variegated grain and color, etc.-- an extensive criteria of quality must be met, and let me be clear -- no machine or technology can or will find a knot or twisted grain. There are 13 pieces of wood that comprise a massive amount of surface area both inside and outside the drones. Using wood that meets my standards means I reject large amounts of wood and spend a lot of time and expense doing it.

This may sound obsessive to some but you have to understand my thought process -- I do not want to put my very limited time into any material that isn't going to reflect the very best I can offer, to do so is in my opinion tantamount to deception. I do not throw this wood away -- I have it stored in my basement and shed. Some of it I've sold to other pipe makers who were happily surprised at the quality. It's fine for other bagpipes just not for my own. I've been fortunate to have a small and elite group of discerning and educated customers who can appreciate what goes into the making of a premium instrument.

Wood Storage

I stock a large supply of African blackwood, knowing that it needs time to stabilize and dry.

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Rejects

A portion of my blackwood rejects. I've pulled some parts out of the scrap bins to show as examples. I purposely cut deep into some of the flaws to illustrate a point. While the flaws may appear superficial, they typically extend through to the center of the billet. Ugly, goes all the way to the bore. What may appear to be a cosmetic flaw is rarely so. While knots may be seen on modern and vintage brands, that doesn't mean that they are desirable or should be accepted. Knots are unpredictable; they may or may not open-up over time or cause warping. They may or may not extend to the bore. The mere fact that they may be more than a cosmetic problem is reason enough to summarily discard these pieces.

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003 - A quasi knot

004 - Flaw on tuning pin

005 - Twisted figure. While this grain pattern has a striking appearance, it also has a high amount of internal stress making it more likely to warp or crack.