Author: Oboe Craig
Date: 2012-05-11 23:13
If you find or create that chart, I'd love to see it.
I think there are also other variables impacting a shaper's impact on playing characteristics. And not just tone... all of them.
A few I try to factor in:
Staple construction. Length, tip opening, wall thickness, perhaps material used to make it.
And I remain puzzled for many years over recommended tie-off lengths per shaper.
I tie far longer than any printed recommendations I find in Weber, Shalita, etc.
I tie to close, on 46 mm Glotin staples that fit my 35 year old Loree mandrel perfectly.
Some tie to close longer and some shorter, but all longer than the recommendations of 73 mm on a 47 mm staple. So my 46 mm staples drive the recommendations another mm off the chart.
And by tie to close, I mean the cane finally closes evenly around the staple about 1 - 1/2 thread widths short of the end of the staple.
I have noticed differing cane diameters tie off a little differently in length, but only making 1/2 - 1 mm difference. Tieing off a little shorter forces a bit more cane onto the staple and impacts the tip opening, so useful to fulcrum the tip a bit for varying cane diameters. Read Sprenkle's 'Art Of Oboe' for his explanation. I have a differing opinion on the cause and effects of that variable.
And the length of the pre-shaped blank may vary depending on source or the equipment I've used. One guillotine I have chops a little longer than the one built onto my RDG gouger.
Altitude where you make reeds and play seems to be a big factor, and relative humidity has an impact, as do barometric pressure changes impact playability.
Your question is a very interesting one and I'll bet the full answer will resemble a complex, multi-dimensional matrix of combinations.... and I would love to see it.
I cannot help much with the shaper variables due to having settled into a Brannon-X a long time back but have tried a lot of different ones from friends along the way.
My basic impression is there is a range of suitable values for tip design, cane characteristics and gouge dimensions. Cane has a vote for sure.... softer Vs. harder, growing conditions, et. al., and gouging and scraping can find the potential best reed if things fall within useful parameters.
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