West Dean 2008, day 8

After leaving the glue on the pirouette and fontanelle to set overnight, it is now time to wrap the lower end of the staple (now glued into the pirouette) with lapping thread to make a good air-tight fit into the top of the shawm body.




All that remains is to fit and fettle the keywork.

Here is the "touch" laid onto the pins for a first trial fitting.



Touch and flap interlinked in a trial fitting.



With the bell fitted to check for clearance under the fintanelle.



From this angle it can be seen that the mechanism sits too high and would foul the inside of the fontanelle.

We decided to lower the height of the action by removing the pins, filing the tangs to be longer, and then refitting them.



First trial fitting of the spring. Again, it sits too high and would foul the fentanelle, so it is gently re-shaped to lay flat on the touch.




Final job is to hammer the ends of the pivots flat and secure them with small brass screws.



As can be seen, now the whole key mechanism is much lower and no longer has clearance problems.



Two views of the completed instrument.






And finally, some pictures of the music that went on inthe bar this evening: