1870ish Ebony Bagpipe Repair / Refurb

Here is a recently completed repair / refurb job on a set of 1870ish ebony bagpipe.

Ron Bowen and myself spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the maker of these pipes but in the end, we were undecided. Here is a quote from Ron that he posted on his FaceBook page:

• "Yes, old Henderson or Lawrie.....maybe but not likely. Rick and I spent a lot of time with this instrument and our conclusion is that it's from the same family but may be earlier than either. The profile of this bagpipe is close on some counts and not so much on others. I've never known either maker to electroplate stamped nickel. It's a delicate and interesting touch to the bagpipe and something that is not common. The projecting mounts don't line up with either maker. I've considered Donald MacLeod of Tain and Donald MacPhee but I don't have enough data to firm this up. All-in-all it's an impressive and well-made bagpipe. I'll keep this on my radar and hope something surfaces down the road that will point to the maker. Ringo"

For anyone who does not know Ron (Ringo) Bowen, he is the owner of the Bagpipe Museum so he has seen and knows more about old pipes than anyone else I know. If he is unable to determine a maker then it is probably not possible.



Click the pictures above to take you to a gallery with many more shots.

The picture on the left shows the pipes as we received them. The white lines on the parts are cracks that needed to be repaired (remember, these pipes are made from ebony so any cracks would have to be invisibly whipped). Yes, that is the original bass bottom section on the far left of the picture which is broken in half.
The picture on the right shows the finished product. This was very time consuming but they turned out fantastic. The bass bottom section was bonded back together (with invisble whipping) and when it was done, ran perfectly true on the lathe.