bagpipe restoration and finishing

[captain]

Hi All,
This is my first post so be patient with me please.
I am currently in the process of restoring an old set of bagpipes made of African Blackwood. I have stripped all the old finish back to bare wood , lightly sanded with 800 grit and thoroughly cleaned with meth spirits.IMHO they are now ready for finishing.The big question is what finish to use.
As far as I can determine modern makers use some form of friction polish. My research tells me that some friction polishes are susceptible to damage by water and alcohol.While I am not worried about the alcohol I am worried about water damage as bagpipers are often caught out in the rain.How big a problem would this be ?
I would be extremely grateful for any information on recommended products and techniques that might be suitable for this project.
I might add that I am after a more subdued sheen rather than an ultra shiny look
Many thanks

Dave

[China]

Bagpipes are traditionally finished with wax and it is usually a guarded secret as to the actual formula, base is usually beeswax + carnauba wax + ????
Check U-Beaut products e.g. Traditional wax, EEE etc.

[soundman]

Unless you are going ti chuck em up in a lathe, friction polish is not going to be a goer.

In addition, if they are old they probably wont run true in the lathe so again friction polish probably not a go.

Ya cant realy go wrong with shelac.

cheers

[China]

Pipes are not supposed to be finished to a high gloss, high quality Pipes are waxed to produce a glow rather than a shine wax allows the Pipes to breath while still giving protection, you do sometimes see pipes that have a gloss finish however you will find that these a very cheap low quality examples

[AngelaPetruzzi]

If you haven't decided on a product, a combination of oil wax may do the trick. Oiling nourishes the the wax seal without a layer. The wax will harden and cure and should repel water however still be "breathable".

[issatree]

Hi All,
There were 2 Bag Pipe Makers in the Geelong Area.
Not sure if they still do them.

[captain]

Thank you to all who replied.
I decided to go with Shellawax friction polish and am more than pleased with the result although in hindsight I would not use a product containing wax for this purpose again.Most bagpipes are decorated with a pattern of beading and combing.The combing consists of a series of fine grooves (usually 6-10)followed by a bead (say 5mm wide )followed by combing, followed by a bead etc etc
The polish brought up a beautiful lustre on the beading and other smooth parts but the wax built up in the fine grooves of the combing and required many passes with fine thread in each groove to clear it.
The end result was exactly what I wanted although very time consuming .I am thinking next time I might experiment with hard shellac

Cheers .Dave