Advice for beginners
Bagpipes can be troublesome instruments and require good care and maintenance. In time you will need to become familiar with the workings of reeds, but when your pipes are new and you are in the first stages of learning, it is best to leave the reeds well alone if at all possible. It is unwise to remove the chanter from its stock to expose the reed unless you really have to, as it is extremely easy to cause damage when reassembling. Always ensure the chanter is supported so it can not fall out of the stock when you pick up the pipes. Dropped cracked chanters and consequently mangled reeds are not covered by the guarantee! If any of the joints should dry out and become loose, extra waxed thread can be applied, and Vaseline or cork grease to lubricate and seal. Don't overdo the thread - it should be an easy push fit. Always keep the pipes in a case except when actually in use.
Sheepskin James C. Begg 
Pipe Bag
The pipe bag is one of the most likely areas of the instrument to leak air. Any air that is lost through the bag is air that you have to replace, making the instrument harder to play. Regardless of the bag material, it must be airtight. To check for this, plug the chanter and drone stocks with rubber stoppers. Blow up the bag with the blowpipe until it is as full as it can get. Squeeze the bag for 30 seconds. If after 30 seconds, it takes more than 1 breath to fill the bag, it is loosing too much air. Possible sources of air leaks are through the seams of the bag, around the stocks, or the stocks themselves. If you can't hear or feel the leak, you can use a soapy water solution to check. If the leaks are through the seam on a hide bag, a good seasoning may correct it. If the leaks are trouth the seam on a synthetic bag, you wil probably have to replace it. Leaks around the stocks on a hide bag can be corrected by re-tying in the stocks. On a Synthetic bag, if leak is between the rubber grommet and the bag, it will have to be replaced. If the leak is between the stock and grommet, you can wrap some plumber's tape(Magic Wrap) around the stock at the top of the grommet, or remove the stock and build up the diameter at the tie in groove. with Plumber's tape. If leak it through the stock, it is because of a crack in the wood. These cracks are most common underneath the stock ferrules, but can also occur lower down on the stock. If this is the case, you will need to have the stock repaired by a competent bagpipe maker/repairer. Another area that may leaks is the blowpipe or the blowpipe valve, which will be covered in the next section. For sanitary reasons, a sheepskin bag should only be used for about three years, and the hide bag for approximately five years.
Synthetic bags are relatively easy to care for. The main thing is to keep the bag dry whenever possible. When not playing, the zipper should be left open and the watertrap should be cleaned often. Proper drying of the synthetic bag can help it last longer than if it was allowed to stay moist.
Seasoning the Pipe Bag
Apply the seasoning as recommended on the container. The secret to success is to rub the seasoning well and truly into the skin, particularly into the welt along the bottom of the bag. Force the seasoning into the skin by corking the drone and chanter stocks and blow up very hard. The surplus dressing is drained away by hanging the bag to drip, and after the stocks are troroughly cleaned out the bag is ready for use. A new bag will require re-seasoning quite soon, and should a different type of dressing ever be used, wash out the bag with warm water in whitch a little DETTOL has been placed. The bag cover must fit loosely a too tight cover causes folds in the pipe bag which lead to unsteadiness and blowing troubles.
Blowpipe
If the pipe bag is leaking through the blowpipe, it is because the valve is leaking. Most valves have a round rubber flapper that is used to seal the valve. If the rubber has hardened or distrorted so it is not flat, replace the valve. If the rubber dirty, sometimes a good cleaning will get the valve working properly again. With a flapper valve, you may need to adjustbhow the valve seats on the bottom of the blowpipe. You can move the copper stem up and down or bend it to get the valve seated better. You can also check that the bottom of the blowpipe is flat and smooth. The blowpipe itself must also be airtight. To check this, place the mouthpiece in your mouth and suck on it. You should be able to stick your tongue to the mouthpiece if there is no air leaking. If the valve is good, then yhe leak is either at the joint between blowpipe and mouthpiece or the blowpipe is cracked. If the joint is leaking, remove the mouthpiece and add some waxed hemp or teflon tape to the joint until the leak is gone. If the blowpipe is cracked, you will need to replace it or have it repaired by bagpipe maker/repairer. The size of the blowpipe bore is also important. The larger the bore, the more air that you can blow through it for the same amount of effort. Ideally, the blowpipe bor should be around 3/8''. if it is smaller than 1/4''. you should consider having it bored out to 3/8'' by a bagpipe maker/repaired.
Joints / Slides
It is critical that the joints between the sections are airtight. The bottom joints between the stocks and drones should be hemped with waxed hemp. These joints are the wettest part of the instrument, and wax on the hemp prevents it from expanding and contracting with changes in moisture. When hemping, take your time and ensure that you use tight, even wraps so that the joint is hemped evenly over its length. These joints should be tight enough that they do not turn when you turn the drone tops for tuning. If these joints are hemped too tightly, or with unwaxed hemp, you will crack the tops of the stocks under the ferrules. The tuning slides should also be hemped with waxed hemp to prevent expansion with changes in moisture. The slides should be hemped only tight enough to ensure that the drone tops will not slip under their own weight. If you like, you can wrap a little unwaxed hemp or teflon tape for the final wrap toe make the drones slide easier, but it is not necessary. You should be able to turn the drone with your thumb and two fingers. The bottom joint between the stock and drone sections should not move when you turn the top drone sections on the tuning slides. If you find that the drone top sections are loose and tight as you move them up and down the tuning slides, the tuning chambers are worn and uneven and need to be trued up. 
Wood Maintenance
A woodwind instruments, being made of Wood, expands and contracts with the rising and lowering of humidity. This creates the problem of joints involving wood becoming loose, creating hazards such as the Chanter falling out. If the wood is allowed to dry out, the wood can crack. To prevent this, the wood should be oiled every six months or at the very least once a year. In drier, hotter climates, bagpipes should be oiled every two weeks to maintain optimum performance. After oiling, the pipes should be left alone to dry before re-assembling. To oil bagpipes, there are a variety of options available to use.
Olive oil - Almond oil - Neatsfoot oil - Flute oil
Cords
Ensure that all the mounts on your bagpip are not loose or falling off. If they are loose, remove the mount and clean the old glue off both glued surfaces. Use a good quality white or wood glue to glue the mounts back on. The drone cords need to be tied on so that the drones are not too far apart on your shoulder. A wide spacing between the drones will affect the way a listener perceives the sound of your drones. A closer spacing tends to give a more solid, full drone sound than a wider spacing. To tie your cords on, start out with one tassel beside the stock on your outside tenor drone. Run the cord up to the outside tenor cord bead, and tie the cord in on either side with small cable ties or thread. Space the drones about 6'' apart. A quick way to measure this is to run the cord from the outside tenor top down to the bottom of the ferrule. This is about 6''. Tie the middle tenor in at this location. Measure down to the bottom of the ferrule on the middle tenor top and use this for spacing between middle tenor top and bass mid section. Tie the bass mid section at the location. Run the cords up to the top bass and tie it in with a little bit slack in the cord so that you can take the top section apart easily. The remainder of the cords can be left as is if they are not too long, Of you can tie the end of the cord back to itself between the top and middle bass sections.
Cracked Parts
