Practice Chanter Adapter for Fagerstrom Technopipes / Technochanter

Make a low cost adapter that will let you use your standard practice chanter top with the Fagerstrom Technopipes giving you more stability when practicing and give the technopipes more of a practice chanter look and feel.

You will need the following:

Parts

• 19mm to 13mm barbed reducing joiner for polytube (irrigation fitting found in most garden / hardware stores)
• Small piece (3-4mm) of 19mm polytube
• 1 disposable ear plug
• Some waxed hemp

• Optional (but recommended) headphone extension

Tools

• Polypipe cutter
• Dremel with plastic cutting blade (EZ476)
• Sharp knife
• Sturdy scissors

You can make the adapter using other cutting tools following the process below but it will require a bit more time and effort and you may need to file / sand the edges of the cuts to get a good finish. Getting a good finish to the edges is important to minimise any scratching that may occur when fitting the adapter to your technopipes.

You need to cut a section out of the 19mm end of the joiner to allow the Technpipes to snap into what will be the finished adapter and so that you can still make contact with the high A.

It is important to get the cut right to ensure a proper snap on fit. If you don’t cut enough the adapter will be hard to fit. If you cut too much the adapter just won’t stay on or will be very unstable.

Make the first cut as shown in the image with the tape.

I use a modified pipe cutter that cuts to the correct depth.

To achieve the same using a knife / saw measure and mark a length of 18 mm on the adapter as shown in the picture with the tape. This will result in an actual opening of about 14mm when the section is cut out.

After making the first cut horizontally mark two lines from the ends of the cut towards the bottom of the 19mm part of the joiner. This will mark out the section that needs to be cut away.

Using a Dremel with a plastic cutting disc @15,000 RPM to make two cuts lengthways in the 19mm section. Cutting @ 15,000rpm seems to give best cut although it may vary depending on the plastic your joiner is made of. Too fast and the plastic will melt!

Make sure you make the cut vertically - this ensures you get the right angle on the edges - so turn the joiner after making the 2nd cut so that the next cut will also be made vertically.

After making the two cuts the section will either fall away or can be simply snapped out.

Make sure the edges where you have made the cuts on the adapter are clean and smooth. Rough edges particularly on the inside will make marks on the Technopipes.

If you have used the Dremel with the plastic cutting disc you will find the rough melted plastic just crumble away easily leaving clean edges and you can just use a sharp knife or file if required to finish off.

(The edges don't look great in these photos but they are actually OK!)

Before testing the fit make sure you have cleaned the edges to minimise the chance of scratching your technopipes.

(The edges don't look great in these photos but they are actually OK!)

Snap the technopipes into the adapter at the bottom. This should be relatively easy and result in a positive click. If it is difficult you may need to widen the opening.

When you are happy that it clicks in easily push the chanter up. You should end up with a small gap of about 3-5 mm and the technopipes will not go any further. The smaller the gap the better the stability will be although it will not be possible to get a gap much smaller than 3mm.

The polytube can be cut easily using some sturdy scissors.

You can get a straight cut if you flatten the polytube by pinching it tight before cutting.

Fit the small piece of polytube onto the adapter. You can achieve this more easily by giving the adapter a squeeze as you push the polytube over the barbed end.

Hemp up the 13mm end of the adapter with waxed hemp continually testing until you get a fit that suits your practice chanter top. Make sure the hemp is even to get a solid stable fit as you would with a practice chanter. If the hemp is uneven the adapter will wobble.

The earplug should be fitted to protect the technopipes from any moisture that might run down into the electronics.

It is best not to make the earplug permanent as you may need to adjust how far it is inserted to suit your headphone jack which will recess into the adapter.

Depending on the type of headphones you have you may be able to use the adapter without the optional extension although I do recommend getting one as it makes fitting the adapter easier and reduces the potential of damaging your headphone cable through repeated bending inside the adapter.

• Feed the cable through the adapter as in pictures above the small section of polytube.
• Connect the headphone to the technopipes and click the technopipe in at the bottom of the adapter
• Push the technopipes up into the adapter
• Make sure the small section of polytube is as close the bottom of the adapter as possible to ensure the best grip and best stability of the adapter.

TIPS

• Some headphone jacks particularly the “L” bend jacks may not let you push the technopipes far enough into the adaptor to get a stable fit. The best way to find out is to try for yourself with your own headphones.
• The best fit is when you end up with a 3-4mm gap.
• If your headphone jack is too big the gap will be too large and the adapter will have poor stability. In this case get an extension cable.

I hope you find this as useful as I have. Get in touch if you have any questions.

Craig