Command Your Bagpipe # 5: Oil Your Pipes! - Bagpipe Lessons 

Thank you for these videos! I just watched your cleaning video before this one and it helped me clean my new set of pipes - my first set!

Matt, thanks for this. Upgrading from poly pipes, blackwood pipes due for delivery pretty soon. Trying to get all the info I can, and your video is the first one I came across that demonstrates oiling a full set as well as going a bit into the science of whats happening to the wood. Thanks again.

Again many thanks Matt. 😘😘😘

This was massively helpful! Thank you, Matt!

Thanks for this video Matt, just worked up the courage to strip my pipes and oil and wax them. Used a pull thru but the small gun cleaning rods is a better idea, more control. Great tip with using a different colour on the middle drone too!

This is a very well made and informative video, exactly how I oil my pipes. I use the end of a 22 cal. cleaning rod with .45 cal. patches. I've been using renaissance wax for the outside of my pipes for a long time, works exceedingly well. I also use the wax on my silver mounts after polishing them up, they seem to hold their luster much longer.

As a follow up, I will let a tiny amount of oil remain on the endgrains of the various pieces, but will make sure it gets a good wipe down prior to reassembly.

Another great video Matt. Thanks for continuing to put out videos that have made me a better piper.

Excellent video, amusing to hear people talking about humidity, we run a dehumidifier in one of our rooms and it runs flat out trying to get DOWN to 60 percent!

Renaissance Wax has been my friend for over 30 years. Especially on the pipes I make - such as they are.

It is VERY advisable to oil the outside of the pipes first and give them a chance to soak some in before you do the bores. The reason for this, is that if you oil the bores first, as they soak it up, they begin to expand internally, but the outside surface is drier and less flexible, and the expanding wood pressure inside the bores can cause the outside to crack to relieve the expansion stress. Oil outside first so that it has some “flexibility”, so to speak. THEN, oil the bores Afterward, wipe off outside excess that didn’t soak in, and then use Renaissance wax.

very interesting and helpful, but we don't get guncleaning kits at Walmart's in Germany...the special rods are supplied here by music equipment stores

Good show!

I also use Bore Doctor, the pipes still look great after eleven years. I bought a big bottle, and it seems to be breaking down over time. The odor and color of the oil has changed. (10yrs)

Bore Doctor 👍 Very popular amongst fife players.

Thank you.,,l have learned more from you in an hour than l have done , spending hundreds of pounds.and hour after hour , trying to learn tunes ,far too hard for me ,,. Trying to get back piping ,after long time .inflating bad ,as required ,was difficult ,thank you for your help .

Just want to ask any pipe makers out there about how to oil a newly made set of small pipes completely dry wood, this video has been very good thanks

East to add moisture. Use a wet towel in the case. Pipes, guitars whatever instrument that is wood.. I have hydrated guitars and my pipes for years this way.. Then a film of oil .. I am 75 years old never had a crack playing guitars and hydrating them since I was 14.. Just tip..

FYI, I used too much bore oil one time and play at an opening ceremony. I had a very hard time tuning the drones and they would not stay in tune. I didn't know what was going on. Well, after talking with a more experienced piper, he asked if there was oil on the drone reeds. Sure nuff there was. I tried cleaning the reeds but they never were stable after that. Bought new reeds and problem solved.

Instead of a gun cleaning kit I like to use a flute cleaning rod. They're just a couple of dollars at any music store. It's exactly the same thing, just a rod with a slit in one end to put a cloth through.

Well dang... I oil my pipes but I definitely have a habit of using too much when I do. I'll be a lot more conservative on the oil from now on and I'll start using wax on the outsides. I also oiled my chanter 😫 so hopefully I didn't screw it up

Many pipe makers’ oil is based on sweet almond oil , but they could be wrong there.. Smallpipe makers use baby oil , very experienced pipers recommend it aswell , I guess we should trust them..

Hi Willis! Thanks for your video! Would you please give me a link to the gun cleaning kit you use or something similar on Amazon? I see a lot of different things there and I'm not sure what to get. Thanks again!

Will adding the wax create build up on intricately carved drones (R.G. Hardies DropKick's)?

Thank you for the video? I have a question… You mentioned having a plastic blowstick stock… is that due to moisture, or what is your reason? Just curious… Thank You…

hi Mat, may I ask, how exactly do you go about oiling smallpipes and border pipes? can you get brushes specifically for border and smallpipes? or do you just use a cleaning brush for a recorder? and what about Northumbrian pipes witch have a really small boor?

I have a blackwood practice chanter. Do you recommend oiling this?

Heyy Matt!!!! How are you!!! I'm so sorry this is late however I have a set of Dunbar Ellar polypenco pipes like a plastic set but you don't have to oil plastic pipes eh Matt?

Hi Matt, going to be oiling my pipes this week to get them ready to be played again ( first time they will have been played in about 3 years). Should i follow the same procedure as you do in this video or oil a little more? I bought Kinnairds bore oil and they recommend using it on the outside as well. I am new to the pipe world, does natural sunlight hurt the woods at all? like should have a coat of oil on the outside before i take them outside to play say on a nice sunny day? I read somewhere that sunlight and stuff is not good for pipes so wouldn't want to do any damage. Thanks

I have a set of pre-1900 Lawrie. How would I know if they are varnished or not?

How often do you oil your pipes? I’ve heard people say once a month to once a year and even every 3 years.

As usual a most helpful video. I have an old Henderson ebony set. I use Dr Bore oil. I recently saw a bottle of pure blackwood oil for oiling bagpipes. What is you viewable using pure blackwood oil for oiling bagpipes?

Matt, my McCallum bagpipe drone valves are stuck in the stocks. Any suggestion on how to remove them so I can oil the stocks? Thanks.

Hey Matt, what's your opinion about oiling with Walnut Oil? I didn't get it at a health food store, per se, but I bought it at an art store, so it's considered an "Artist's Oil Medium" ('pure, alkali refined oil pressed from american walnuts. extends oil color for increased flow, non yellowing, slow drying') is what it says on the back. It doesn't have any Vit.E in it, so besides running across the street to a walgreens to pick up some to add to it, do you have any thoughts on, like i said, using walnut oil as opposed to almond, and if the type of refining of the oil has anything to do with affecting the final outcome.... thanks ian san francisco bagpipes

Just bought my first set, good video to learn all the maintenance. I got to rehemp the set i got, and start oiling as they haven't been played in a couple years. Is it bad to oil the outside? I see that you use woodbeams, however I am debating on what to order. Thanks

Dear Matt, Many thanks for your uploads they are very much appriciated. Since Doctor's Prod. is not shipping their Bore oil to my place, I was wondering if you could supply it. I am willing to pay in advance using credit card, PayPal or money transfer by bank. Please let me know if it's possible to order 2 botlles of 60ml and what standard shipping to The Netherlands would cost.

Matt how would recommend going about oiling an antique set of pipes (100 + years) that haven’t been played in decades?

What product do you use to disinfect your pipes. They say dangerous fungus can form in your pipes, I’ve heard stories of piper’s getting sick and even dying of a deadly fungus. Or does oiling them kill the fungus. I do oil my pipes at least 2 or 3 times a year. I’ve heard Pipers in Arizona oil them a lot more often. But I’m in western Arkansas and we are hot and humid every summer only dry at the end of summer.

The varnish is chipping off mine, debating a re coat of true oil on the outside Linseed oil from flaxseeds is what I use on gun stocks and knife handles,it hardens like a varnish but takes a while the guy who I got the pipes from said they never seen oil in over 20 years and the only crack was on the blow stick..I'm playing 10 minuits a day for re moisture purpose for 2 weeks then increase playing time ( dont know how long they sat for) could a damp cloth in the pipe case humidify wood or more likely to mold ? Theres also packets that have diferent % of moisture that are sold at weed stores in canada , 45-65% Im stuck between reviving old wood or its seen hell and back dont worry bout it ... decisions, decisions 🤔

Matt, what's the difference between the outer and middle drones?

Don't do what I did one time. I was in a hurry and couldn't find my oiling rod so I just squirted some oil down the drones and twisted them around as to spread the oil. Well, a day or so later I was getting ready for a memorial service and my drones would not stay steady or in tune. Long story short, oil had gotten onto the drone reeds. After swabbing out the drones and new drone reeds, problem solved.

Do you worry at all that a metal cleaning rod would scratch the wood?

What do you use for that yellow thing that you use your finger for to make it smooth because I don’t have it and where you buy it from

Fyi Goodies Unlimited doesn't ship or respond after you buy a product from them. I'm about to contact my bank to cancel the transaction. Two weeks and nothing shipped. UPDATE: they finally sent it.

I oil with olive oil 😢