The last chanter modification I made was to put threads on the two halves.
This has worked far better than I expected it to:
- the joint is still airtight, and doesn’t require any glue or waxed thread
- the joint can be unscrewed to make the chanter more portable
I’m not sure if this is going to last forever: the joint may loosen up over time. But in that case I can just glue it together, or add some material to keep it airtight and still removable.
There may be other places I can put threaded joints:
- bellows valve to bellows
- bellows to bellows outlet
- blowpipe to blowpipe stock
I may even be able to attach the chanter into the chanter cap with a thread, and the cap into the chanter stock. This would mean you couldn’t swap out the chanter cap with someone else’s, but I haven’t seen any piper ever want to do that.
If I did all five of these joints, it would provide a system that would never pop apart under pressure, and would eliminate the need for waxed twine and friction joints. That would be wild!