Doublereed Archive - Posting 000023.txt from 2003/01

From: "Christian Eberle" <ceberle@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Bassoon cane
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 2003 14:28:30 -0500

Most cane will warp and curl to some degree as it dries. To prevent this, I
rubber band my cane to dowels after shaping and profiling. My logic is that
there will be less tension in the cane fibers as the cane is forced into
shape to become a blank. The less the cane has to be forced into shape, the
more vibrant the reed will be. That's my theory anyway. It has proven true
in my experience. I don't have too many throwaways any more. And it's one
less variable to worry about.

Christian R. Eberle
Bassoonist, West Point Band
ceberle@-----.com

----- Original Message -----
From: <ContraReed@-----.com>
To: <doublereed-l@-----.edu>
Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 2:02 PM
Subject: [DR-L] Bassoon cane

> The other day I started about 20 pieces of cane on their voyage to become
> reeds. I soaked them for a few hours in boiling water to leech some gunk
> out, then set them out to dry. Out of this group, over half started
curling
> up on themselves, some into nice, fairly neat semi-circles, and others
into
> almost drinking straw configurations. The rest kept their normal
relatively
> flat, gentle curve. I realize that cane being cane is going to differ
from
> piece to piece, and will try to remember which piece were which when the
time
> comes to make and finish the reeds, but I'm wondering if anyone has any
ideas
> of whether cane that does this will make worse reeds than the flatter
pieces,
> or is it just a function of the soaking and drying process. After the
second
> soaking, I took these pieces and fastened them to plexiglass rods/profiler
> barrels/etc. to keep them from repeating the curling up process). FWIW,
the
> cane is about 12 years old, and the relative humidity in my basement is
> usually 60 to 70%, so the drying process is a rather slow one.
>
> Thanx in advance,
>
> Richard
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