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Re: Starting year 3, now gouging and shaping....

Author: cjwright
Date: 2009-08-20 19:06

While I'm not saying a gouge can literally change the quality of the fibers, density, etc of bad cane, I will state that a good gouge can help compensate for mediocre cane.

The guide of a gouging machine gives a certain pushing down action upon the cane, while the blade has a pulling upward force upon the cane. In careful balance, the two function to give just the right amount of force to accomplish a smooth, even cut. It is important that the cane is "cut" in the gouging process, rather than being "ripped" away, which produces curls which look like rough fibers with holes, or pieces of cane that have little barbs/bumps on them. These barbs are evidence that at some point from when the blade is going across the inside of the piece of cane, something snags and therefore the cane isn't being perfectly cut.

Of course these barbs can be the result of mediocre or poor quality cane, but the proper balance of forces, along with a razor sharp blade can lessen the problem by cutting flawed cane more smoothly.

A bad gouge however can certainly make good cane turn really bad, really fast. Even if you have some of the finest, densest, tight-grained cane, if you have a bad gouge, the curls will come off as stringy or "swiss-cheesy". This can be caused by scratches in the guide, rust or rough spots (i.e. not perfectly smooth edge) on the blade, or even misalignment of the bed with the guide/parallels/bar etc.

For those who buy gouged cane, you should always check your cane when you buy it:
1. Is the cane even (.within .01, maybe .02) from the center of the piece (width-wise) from one end to the other (if the piece is 76mm long, check every .15mm)
2. Under a light with a magnifying glass, look at the inside of the piece of cane and see if the cane is wide grain or tight-grained.
3. Also check if there's grooves in between the grains, as this gives you an idea as to how smooth the gouge is. A good gouge should cut very smoothly, so it looks as smooth as sandpaper.
4. Check for cracks and other flaws.

I don't know anyone who sands the inside of their cane, namely because it changes the gouge and therefore would change the acoustical properties, not to mention it makes the entire piece of cane uneven (unless you can evenly sand .01mm off an entire piece of cane).

Cane that has been gouged so that the surface looks rough in the inside tends to be less vibrant while the cane that is smoother vibrates more quickly. Therefore, technically speaking, cane that is gouged smoother should require less cane scraped off which in my opinion makes a reed with a better skeletal structure, and is more stable and from what I gather from the statement above from Dan Ross, would make it last longer. But I don't want to get into that conversation again.

Hope this helps.

Cooper
CooperWrightReeds.com

Blog, An Oboe In Paradise
Solo Oboe, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra

Post Edited (2009-08-20 19:15)

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