Klarinet Archive - Posting 000476.txt from 2002/03

From: MVinquist@-----.com
Subj: [kl] reed measurement
Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 06:19:51 -0500

Nyclarinet asks: >> Are there any other reed measurement tools, other than
the PerfectaReed, to measure the thickness along the entire reed and not just
the tip? Thanks. <<

Many years ago, Jack Linx of Linx & Long, one of the great stores that used
to be on West 46th Street, made me a tool I still use. It's a dial
micrometer pipe gauge, with a thin feeler rod about 1-1/4" long sticking out
that you could put inside a pipe to determine the thickness. The gauge rod
coming out of the dial is about 1/16" in diameter with a rounded point.

Jack filed the feeler rod flat and welded a flat metal plate to it, about
1-3/4" long and 3/4" wide. I then scribed lines on it every 1/16". It's
absolutely perfect, and, for me, much easier to use than the PerfectaReed,
because it's easy to handle and has a thumb lever that lifts the gauge rod.

Any machine shop could do the work for you. I have no idea whether the
company is still in business, but Jack started with a Teclock Pipe Dial Gauge
model TPI-116, which measures in thousandths of an inch with a 0.4" maximum.
I'm sure you could get something that measures in thousandths of a millimeter
if you prefer.

Best regards.

Ken Shaw

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