Klarinet Archive - Posting 000684.txt from 2004/11

From: "Steve White" <bass.clarinet@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] grain vs not-grain (was: Sandpaper vs. Reed knife)
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 16:09:50 -0500

I apologize if the reference was misleading. There are similarities in
how they react to water though. I never said it was wood. Just a 'wood
working term.' In wood-working one (of too may to worry about) way to
prepare a piece for finish is to moisten the wood with water and dry it
repeatedly to raise the grain so that you can get a much smoother surface
after sanding.

As for what you are looking at, I cannot be sure. I am not a cane expert,
just a guy who has found something that works for me from mixing and
matching from my instructors practices over the years.

What 'grain' MAY (remember, I'm not an expert and may be wrong) be is the
tubes of cane previously mentioned. What is between the tubes is not
something that I know about.
In wood 'grain' is the visible lines that are produced by the tree as it
grows. You can tell a tree's age by counting the 'rings' of grain from
center to the outer bark. There is usually one ring per year. Closer rings
are dryer years and depict less growth. Wider rings are wetter years when
the tree grew more aggressively. Trees have tubes for nutrient
transportation that are usually more towards the center (if I remember
correctly).

Anyway, I digress, and nobody really asked and I'm sorry.

Steve White

(I know not exactly clarinet topic there)

-----Original Message-----
From: Ormondtoby Montoya [mailto:orm1ondtoby@-----.net]
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2004 12:48 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] grain vs not-grain (was: Sandpaper vs. Reed knife)

Steve White wrote:

> Using what is essentially the wood-working
> term of 'raising the grain' as a starting point
> [snip] Immerse the reeds but end up into the
> warm water [snip] Once the reeds are
> saturated, I place them table side up on a
> piece of glass to dry. [snip] I call this
> 'tempering' but I think it just the concept of
> raising the grain of the wood

(Not to be a nitpicker, but it's cane, not wood....)

I use a similar procedure, but after each drying, I find (as Larry Guy's
book explains) 'dust' particles on the reed's surface which can be
whisked away with the edge of a knife (without cutting into the reed).
I can see these 'dust particles' with a loupe, but I don't know
precisely what I'm looking at.

I can't help wondering what 'grain' is, and whether cane has 'grain',
and precisely what I'm scraping away (presumably leaving a higher
percentage of fibers behind)?

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