"Penny-Chanter" Dimensions

C/C# Flat Narrow-Bore Chanter, Possible Old "Harrington"

Copyright 1998 David C. Daye, all text, image and sound files presented here.

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New May 1998

Table of Contents

• Source
• Tubing
• Special Tapered Upper Bore -- 3 Options
• Finger-Holes
• Reeds

Source

The source of these dimensions is an old C# chanter, possibly a Harrington, owned by Kevin Rowsome of Dublin Ireland, grandson of the late Leo Rowsome the famous pipe maker. I spent 2 days measuring this chanter when Kevin taught at Irish Week at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West Virginia USA in 1997. In my lessons I played the first production Concert D "Rowsome" Penny-Chanter and Kevin was quite favorable to it. Kevin shared his C# chanter with all the students who unanimously pronounced it appealing to hear and well-behaved to play.

Table of Main Bore Tubing Sizes

Notes:

Click Here to See how measurements were taken.

Table of Main Bore Tubes

Special Tapered Upper Bore

This upper bore is easily made, using 2 pieces of tubing. Their bottoms are cut at an angle so as to approximate the behavior of  the tapered bore in the original wood chanter. The innermost or Throat Tube consist of a medium length cylinder with a long tapered tail, and is fixed partway into the next larger or Upper Bore Tube. The Upper Bore Tube reaches from the head of the chanter down part way to the back D or thumb hole, and also has a taper. The reed is hemped and will slide, for tuning purposes, within the Upper Bore Tube between the chanter top and the throat. Some authorities believe that this "Reed Seat" region should be as narrow and smooth as possible. Accordingly an extra tube of the same diameter as the Throat Tube can be installed above it, extending to the top of the chanter, providing a narrow reed tuning slide.

Beware of leakage around the outside of the Throat Tube. Its cylindrical section is so short that there may not be an effective seal between it and the Upper Bore Tube. Creative gluing; perhaps a thicker modelmaking glue, may be necessary to achieve an airtight seal. Leakage here will increase the chance of gurgling bottom D and probably some other performance problems.

Table of Throat, Reed Seat and Upper Bore Tubing

Finger Holes

Notes:

Table of Finger-Hole Dimensions

Note: Notes are named as though chanter is in the key of D.

Reeds for the Flat Penny-Chanter

Still under development. Flat chanters take rather small narrow reeds. Present efforts:

• Blades 10-11 mm wide
• Cane O.D. 3/4" to 7/8"
• Sanding cylinder 1 2/3 " to 1 3/4" O.D.
• Slip .037" to .040" thick along center
• Staple 48-50 mm long
• Staple bore beteen 3.2 mm and 4 mm i.d. at bottom end, narrower at eye end.
• 3.2 mm more usual for trad flat chanters; Penny-Chanters currently tend towards slightly larger i.d. staples.
• 4 mm almost certainly too big.
• Current staple made from tapered sheet metal blank.
• .015" brass, 48mm long, 12.2 mm wide base end, 11.2 mm wide eye end.
• Reed length 75-78 mm total

Click here to see extensive photos and some diagrams of the reed-making process. This, too, is an incomplete work in progress!

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