 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: clarinetfreak
Date: 2005-11-03 11:00
I am looking to make handmade reeds and am wandering where I can obtain the adequete equipment to make these reeds efficently. I am specifically looking for a planer, reed shaper, and a copier. I would appreciate it at if we kept this thread equipment oriented rather than philosophical oriented.
Good Times!
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2005-11-03 11:23
Attachment: ReedMakingMachine.jpg (460k)
Hi
I can't post more pictures on the bass clarinet convention thread, and I wanted to post about the reed making workshop, so this is a good place to do it.
We had a reed making workshop by Dutch reed maker Frans Jurjaanz, who is making bass clarinet reeds for several professional bass clarinetists in Holland. Unfortunately I only took a picture of the copier, but he had two more things he uses. I forgot what was one of them, but the other was a device to measure the thickness. It measures in hudreds of a millimeter (it actually measures in thousands of a millimeter but he explained it doesn't matter since it is impossible to work in thousands of a millimeter). He made from a measuring device and a bicycle part (I'm not sure how exactly).
Since you asked I'll leave his philosophy out (although he said some very interesting things about different kinds of reeds and explained why reeds from major companies are not very consistant sometimes, so if anyone is interested I'll post what he explained).
I attached the picture of the copier, and if I remember correct he said it was made in the USA.
Post Edited (2005-11-03 11:35)
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Author: donald
Date: 2005-11-03 17:45
that's a "Reedual" (often called the "Doo-all" in the US)
i managed to find one for 50 pounds in Howarth Music (they described it to me as "a piece of junk"- it IS a piece of junk if you don't know how to use it properly.....)
interestingly- see where it says (in the foreground) "right hand"? mine says "right ahnd". i wonder if in 100 years time it will be considered as valuable as various misprinted stamps? (because of the misprint) i wonder how many were made with this flaw?
anways, i'm not sure where you'd go about buying one of these, last time i heard 2nd hand (or is it "ahnd"?) ones went for about $500, but since then a couple of similar machines have been produced in the US (including one that uses the same concept but is "hand driven" rather than driven by an engine)
keep playing the good tunes
donald
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Author: crnichols
Date: 2005-11-03 17:59
I'm a reedmaker myself, I'll never go back. After the initial investment, it's practically costless, especially if the military buys you a couple pounds of cane and all the sandpaper you need... Anyways, the ReeDuAl can be obtained from George Crossman, he's in Lauderdale-by-the Sea. Here's his webpage:
http://hometown.aol.com/georgeorrabco/myhomepage/business.html
The planer, planer base, shaper, profiler, and utility knife can be obtained from Robert Dilutis or from Bil Jackson. I know you can get them in a timely manner from Dilutis, and the prices are very very reasonable. I've heard that Jackson's tools are a little better, but they cost more, and last I heard he was having problems with his machinist so they were difficult to get.
This is Dilutis's website:
http://www.frontiernet.net/~reedmach/
Besides those items, you need a Miter Box to cut the tubes to length with, and a 4 way cane splitter, the bassoon splitters usually do the job well. The best one I've seen/used is made by Rieger, and you can obtain that through Miller Marketing, the sole stateside distributor. Here is that website:
http://www.millermarketingco.com/rieger/basoon.htm
Dilutis also sells a reedmaking machine, but, the only issue is that your cane reed that you use as a model will not last for very many copies. You need to have him make a metal template to use, which is about $250. You send a few reeds you really like, and he makes you a good template that will last forever. After a few hundred reeds with the ReeDual, you'll need a different model than what you were using.
Some sources of cane that are excellent are Davie Cane, Rigotti, Glotin, Marca, and my favorite, but he's been out of it for some time, Proboe Shop run by Guy Hardy.
Good Luck!
Christopher Nichols
1st Infantry Division Band
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Author: clarinetfreak
Date: 2005-11-03 20:46
Thank you for your replies. I am looking for a gentleman by the last name of McDowell in the mid west that sells a planer and shaper. Does anyone have information about this man? I remember back in college at Michigan (around 1998) he was still selling these items.
Good Times!
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2005-11-05 04:51
OK here is what I remember from the reed making workshop by Frans Jurjaanz.
First he showed two reeds, both he made for Dutch bass clarinetists. One reed was much shorter and narrower than the other. That is because of their different mouthpieces. He explained how the reed should match the mouthpiece, but that is obvious I guess.
He showed cane (you can see the cane piece in the picture above) and as you can see it is a little angled so he said it is bad and he can't really use it. He explained that one of the problems with Vandoren reeds (he gave them as an example but really meant all big reed companies). It is because they can't afford to choose only the best pieces of cane.
He said Vandoren now got to a situation where the cane they grow in about one year, is selling in about two months! They are desperately looking for places around the world for growing more cane.
He explained about two different ways of starting to make the reed. One is to cut the whole cane in quarters, like the piece in the above picture. The other is to first cut the cane in lengths that are good for reeds, and then cut each piece to quarters. He explained that the first method is better (I think it is better for finding the best parts of the cane) and the second method is more efficient and wastes much less cane, but not all reeds will be as good.
He also commented about the different types of cane. In the past he used cane from the south of France (the same as Vandoren), from Argentina (the same as Gonzalez) and even from Australia.
About the Australian cane he said it wasn't very good at the time, but they are improving greatly in the last few years. The problem with it was not as much of the cane was usefull.
The cane from Argentina he didn't say much about, but I understood he thought it is pretty good.
The cane from France he thought is the best cane.
Now he doesn't use these types of cane anymore, he found a private cane farmer/grower (what's thwe word?), I think also from France, and he said it is the best cane he ever had.
About the reeds, he said some people devide the reed into parts. For example, if you need a better staccato scrape a certain part, if the reed is slightly too resistant scrape another part, etc. He said that him and the people he makes reeds for don't really believe that theory, and basically the most important thing is symetry. The best way to check a reed is to rotate the clarinet a little so you can check each side of the reed (by playing). If one side feels harder or more resistant than the other scrape of a little from that side, but only very little. He uses glass paper (is this the right term? I'm translating from my language) but not a very hard one. He said not to use anything that will scrape too much the moment it touches.
He said he thought the glass thing from Vandoren is pretty good.
I'm wondering where do the people on this board that make their own reeds get their cane?
Thanks.
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