Klarinet Archive - Posting 000188.txt from 2001/10

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] Reed Resurfacer
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 14:36:22 -0400

I use a 4" X 6" piece of 1/4 " plate glass for sanding reed blanks and polishing a finished reed.

When making reeds I use this to flatten the reed blank completely and to get the reed blank to the proper thickness.

I use 240 wet-or-dry sandpaper to remove a lot of cane quickly.

When the reed is almost complete I use 600 strength to polish the back of the reed.

I will do this as well for a commercial reed, if it is not too thin. I like a reed to be 3 mm thick at the shoulder. 2.8 is the absolute minimum for me, any thinner than that and usually the reed won't hold up.

If I want to polish the back of the reed, without removing any cane, I'll turn the sandpaper over, and just polish the back of the reed on the thick paper side of the sandpaper.

This keeps the reed from absorbing too much moisture.

Beware, though! In ym view of the worlds, too much polishing takes away some of the vitality of the sound!!!! (And woe to the clarinet player who has really polished his reeds, then comes down with a cold and takes a decongestant that dries him/her up.)

I'm going to post a few pics to my "weirdo" website showing how I use the glass and sandpaper.

www.clarinetxpress.com/odds.html

Give me, say 30 minutes!

P.S. This is MY way of helping to prepare reeds, others may vary considerably and get good results!

Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com

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