Bellows connecting tubing?

[Neil Clark]

Re: Bellows connecting tubing?

Jeez.... Good point.... It never occurred to me that the tube may, in fact, split!

I do get complacent with small pipes, but I'm now playing them a lot more. Ok, yet another spare to carry.

Thanks for the wake up

[Quiet Piper]

Re: Bellows connecting tubing?

Patrick, what kind of tubing was it that split? Was it very old? I have PVC on mine, not reinforced.

[Patrick McLaurin]

Re: Bellows connecting tubing?

I don't know what kind it was. I bought the pipes used from a guy in Austrailia. Kinnear pipes, Hope bellows. It was black and very flexible. Very thin wall.

I found some new stuff at a hardware store that is reinforced. It works. I have no idea what it is either. It is not that flexible.

Turns out I had one of the fancy uilleann pipe tubes buried in a box but it is too long and I don't feel like cutting it up.

[Patrick McLaurin]

While this thread is going on 5 years old, I have just written a blog post about the woes of connecting bellows to bag, specifically with regard to my new half-set of uilleann pipes.

https://patrickmclaurin.com/wordpress/?p=4608

I would be curious to hear further thoughts on the subject. Revisiting this thread and seeing dishwasher drain hose as a potential solution has me thinking that might be worth a try in its full length with my current approach as outlined in the blog post.

[Lochie]

Interesting solution.
I too have struggled a bit with the same issue. I use the rubber NPU tube on my smallpipes just fine, and my practice Uilleann.
But once I began wrestling with a larger heavier border pipe I ran into issues with hose disconnects, and general ergonomics...
Mostly it's just me.
If you ever get another split, you can always chop off a length and go back to the original set up, at least long enough to complete the gig!