New Koehler/Quinn 3/4 C set drones and regs in zirocote

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 11:17 pm

Goes with the Quinn C chanter I bought from Lewis Blevins...

Just arrived on Tuesday... its amazing... Has the same bore dimensions as Lewis' Beehive set.

I'm set for life now.

Photos of the drones and regulators at:
http://www.pbase.com/eskin/quinn_c_set

Cheers,

Michael

meemtp · Post by **meemtp** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 8:04 am

Sexy set!

Corin

Pat Cannady · Post by **Pat Cannady** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 12:57 pm

Yes, very pretty set, Mike, can't wait to hear it.

Are you thoroughly spoiled yet?

Aren't nice flat sets a blast?

Patrick D'Arcy · Post by **Patrick D'Arcy** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 5:29 pm

What a beauty! Congrats you lucky spaniel!

PD.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 6:17 pm

Congratulations Michael! Very nice. I've never heard of zirocote before. Is it very dense? Looks beautiful.

-Paul

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 6:27 pm

I'd not heard of it before before talking to David, he was doing a test set of drone in it since it had all the properties one looks for in a wood for woodwinds. I did some searching and found some luthiers building guitars out of it as well. It is very interesting grained wood, quite unique. Its pretty dense and heavy as well....

The Sporting Pitchfork · Fri Mar 19, 2004 12:26 am

Wow, that was quick Michael. I can actually remember when you got the chanter.

Zirocote sounds like something you'd use on a car's paint job. I'm sure your drones and regs will be long-lasting.

I'm curious to see whether you'll wind up with a preference for C or B. Not that it's even a remote possibility at the moment, but if the money for a flat set were to suddenly materialize, I'm still not sure which one I'd choose...I mean, seems like everybody's getting B sets, which in a way would make me all the more inclined to get a C set...I'd probably just have to get both, in which case, a whole lot more money would have to suddenly materialize...

Damn.

Oh, one more thing. Do you notice much of a difference in the finger spacing between the C chanter and the B chanter?

eskin · Post by **eskin** » Fri Mar 19, 2004 7:09 am

I definitely prefer C over B (at least this week)...

The chanter spacing is similar to the B, but the stick overall is much shorter, only slightly longer than my D chanter. For me the bigger issue was that I really don't like bass regulator bars and prefer the 3/4 set configuration. I don't think I could reach the regs on a B set without the bass bar to bring them up to where I can get to them. I have no problem reaching the regs on the 3/4 C set with them on my lap.

Cheers,

Michael

Pat Cannady · Post by **Pat Cannady** » Fri Mar 19, 2004 10:49 am

The Sporting Pitchfork wrote: Zirocote sounds like something you'd use on a car's paint job. I'm sure your drones and regs will be long-lasting.

Zirocote (pronounced ZERO-kotay). Yeah you're right, though, if you didn't know how to pronounce it correctly you'd think it was auto paste wax or some sort of concoction for cleaning tires or polishing chrome!

NEW! Armor All with patented Zirocote (TM) formula for maximum time between waxings!

DMQuinn · Post by **DMQuinn** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 8:38 am

I had only seen it spelled with an i: ziricote, before doing a search on the other spellings zirocote and ziracote, both of which yielded references to the same wood. It was interesting to learn that the wood isn't just being used to make uilleann pipes. You can also get neckties and pool cues made of the stuff.

http://www.exotichardwood.com/pic_ziricote.html

My first exposure to Ziricote, maybe five years ago, was a description in a wood catalog, where it was called heavy, dense, and dark. I ordered a few pieces to see what it was like, and was impressed enough with the heft and feel to try an experimental chanter in it. To our surprise, the thing sounded very nice, and I have been using it for experimental purposes ever since. It's less expensive than ebony, but has attractive characteristics of its own.

In the meantime, I have come across other descriptions of the wood, including one colorful one referring to a "landscape" grain pattern. Some sections do remind me of Chinese landscape painting. It can look a bit like marble ice cream, too. The ray cells are striking, and BK's first impression of the ray cells as looking something like reptile scales led to the nickname that we use for it in the Koehler and Quinn workshops: lizardwood.

For some reason, the smell of the wood makes me think of old books. It bores and reams quite nicely, and is not particularly difficult to turn, as long as you don't expect it to hold sharp edges. For this reason, I've been using very simple outlines with ziricote, and restricting the decorative turning to trim pieces, using plastic or boxwood for those.

In the set that just recently went to Michael, the experimental aspects were the bass drone, which is the first traditional loop-style bass drone in C I have made in over 20 years, and certain shifts in the regulator bores.

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 10:51 am

I wonder if anyone has tried turning Persimmon wood (shown in bottom two Cooperman fifes above), also called American ebony, for uilleann pipes. Persimmon was probably most famous for use in wooden drivers (golf clubs), although I've heard it might be used in bows (archery).

I think persimmon would take a little getting use to...not my cup of tea.

Brian Lee · Post by **Brian Lee** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 12:04 pm

So David...

When ARE your books opening up again???

Bri~

DMQuinn · Post by **DMQuinn** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 1:45 pm

Brian Lee wrote:So David...

When ARE your books opening up again???

Bri~

We have a strict policy of not accepting orders from anyone with more than 680 posts to this forum.

The Sporting Pitchfork · Sun Mar 21, 2004 4:46 am

Yes!

SAFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!