D. MACPHERSON BAGPIPES ... MANUFACTURING HISTORY TODAY

CREATE YOUR OWN CUSTOM BAGPIPE

Pipes can be customised to any requirement. Here are some examples of materials used. Examples of previous customers requests can be viewed on the GALLERY PAGE. Each set is individually priced. For more info please CONTACT US.

*All mounts are threaded on and completely secure.

PURPLE HEART Found in Central and South America, this exotic wood is a world-wide favourite. It is used for a wide range of things such as billiard cue butts, diving boards, skis, flooring, tool handles, cabinetry and decorative vaneers. It has high bending and crushing strength and stiffens with medium resistance to shock loads. Once cut, the purple deepens in sun light over a period of about a week.

COCOBOLO Imported from Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. One of the most colourful woods available - varies from red to black, dark brown to gold and yellow. Extremely dense, durable and hard and finishes beautifully.

MGURURE Mgurure wood has intermittently been used as an alternative to Blackwood throughout the years of pipe making. It is imported from Kenya, Africa and has a dark brown to violet purple. For more information on this exotic hardwood, please visit Wood Worker's Source website. An image gallery of Doug MacPherson Mgurure wood bagpipes may be viewed here.

The image below shows a piece of combed and beaded Mgurure wood with contrasting wood mounts in Satinwood, Cocobolo, Boxwood and African Blackwood (from left to right).

MOPANE Found in Africa and India. Light walnut in colour with a slightly course texture that finishes easily and is extremely lustrous when polished. A hard and heavy wood also used in construction, fence posts, railroad ties and carvings. Makes a beautiful set of bagpipes.

BOXWOOD Small tree in comparison - grows from 10 to 30 foot high. The wood is dense and heavy with fine grain and takes an excellent polish. The inner bark can be utilised to make black ink and the juice of the twigs is used by the Creoles who inhabit Virginia, to harden their gums!

PALM NUT (Vegetable ivory) Togua Nut from the South American Rain Forest. Previously (during the Victorian age) these nuts were used for a variety of items such as umbrella handles, dice, thimbles, buttons and small hand carvings. They are gaining huge popularity as an alternative to ivory, however, their colour can vary from almost white to ochre yellow which makes them quite unpredictable to turn.