 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: OneWatt
Date: 2021-03-28 19:11
Couldn't find mention of this video in the search function so I thought I'd ask...
Anyone here catch this Youtube snippet posted back in Oct 2020?
"Reed Geek for $3...SERIOUSLY??"
https://youtu.be/hPgZER91H-I
Basically, he points out that a high speed steel lathe tool is extremely inexpensive as a way to obtain a "reed geek"-style hand tool that essentially does the same thing.
He concludes that, although it's not a 1=1 replacement, the lathe tool is highly effective for specific-zone reed adjustments... and a whole lot cheaper.
Given that it's been the price of the "reed geek" that has held me back from buying one, perhaps I'll give this alternative a try. If so I'll follow up here to pass along my experience.
Meanwhile: I get excellent results using the Ridenour ATG tool/sandpaper, while I flatten my reed backs with a 12" long Vixen "rounded tooth" flat file ($12 on eBay).
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Israel = Ancient Hebrew for "Wrestles with God"
Klarinet = Ancient Greek for "Struggles with Reeds"
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2021-03-28 22:24
Somewhat tangential to your aforementioned Reed Geek alternative, IMHO, part of the allure of the Reed Geek itself rose out of, of all things, 9/11.
TSA regulations after the Twin Towers incident made weapons, including the knives that harmless woodwind players might keep with their beloved instruments to adjust reeds, that they in turn took with them into the cabins of aircrafts, a no-no.
A Reed Geek, with a close to perfect 90 degree angle on 4 sides of its metal rectangular shape, provided the ability to replace a sharp knife, let alone in much less space, and still satisfy the TSA as being unable to be used as a weapon. For those who use knives for reed adjustment I recommend the product, as I do own but don't much use it. It is well made.
This said, I too prefer things like the ATG tool, equally acceptable to in-airplane cabin possession, over a knife or Reed Geek approach. Maybe it's me, but I find the Reed Greek creator's emphasis on having a flat reed underside, that the Reed Geek can, in fairness, provide, overstated not in importance so much, but in frequency of the reed not being or keeping near close to perfectly flat.
Maybe people's reeds warp more lengthwise than mine--much that in fairness the Reed Geek also has numerous good indications as a top of the reed adjustment tool. But my reeds don't seem to warp much lengthwise.
Maybe keeping my reeds in a sealed container with humidity packs and individual reed protectors may not only secure them from trauma, but straight, helps me, but I never much had such warping problems even before I stored reeds in humidity controlled environments and just protectors.
In short, I think it a good tool for some, but for my experience, it's sold in part by its inventor for problems (table warping) I don't frequently have.
Of course "YMMV" may apply here.
Post Edited (2021-03-28 22:26)
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Author: Arnoldstang
Date: 2021-03-28 23:34
I have both the reed geek and the machinist’s material. There are of course extra contours on the reed geek. I haven’t found these extras useful as I just use the tool to flatten the bottom of the reed.
Freelance woodwind performer
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2021-03-29 02:12
Thanks for adding that Arnoldstang. I neglected to say, in fairness, as you did, that the tip of one end of the reed geek is designed for small area work on the top of the reed, making it likely different in capability than the OP's linked substitute.
All products, whether this old guy likes and uses them or not, deserve fair description of all their features when pointing out one owner's opinions of their shortcomings.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2021-03-29 03:04
SecondTry wrote:
> TSA regulations after the Twin Towers incident made weapons,
> including the knives that harmless woodwind players might keep
> with their beloved instruments to adjust reeds, that they in
> turn took with them into the cabins of aircrafts, a no-no.
I hadn't thought of this, but you may be right. It's also, for students who are advanced enough to want to do reed adjustment, probably safe to carry to school in a clarinet case, while a reed knife could bring on suspension or worse.
> Maybe it's me, but I find the Reed Greek
> creator's emphasis on having a flat reed underside, that the
> Reed Geek can, in fairness, provide, overstated not in
> importance so much, but in frequency of the reed not being or
> keeping near close to perfectly flat.
>
> In short, I think it a good tool for some, but for my
> experience, it's sold in part by its inventor for problems
> (table warping) I don't frequently have.
For me, the usefulness of the Reed Geek comes from its other cutting contours, mentioned by Arnoldstang, that can be used, with somewhat more care than I'm always apt to take, the way rush is used to scrape toward the tip in specific areas that aren't vibrating well.
I can flatten the back of a reed, when rarely I need to, with a piece of abrasive paper on a piece of plate glass.
ATG is based on the idea that the vamp surface shouldn't have high spots and that the flat sanding surface will correct them without the player's having to find them. With ATG, as I've always understood Tom's demonstrations, you only need to know which side is heavier and whether, from specific play-testing, the problem is in the "ears" or more in the main part of the vamp. Rush and the Geek (and knives) are more capable of zeroing in on specific problem areas to try to match their stiffness to the surrounding cane.
That said, my problem with Reed Geek (although I use everything, including Geek, rush, knife and ATG at one time or another, depending on what I need to do) is that it's all too easy to get the wrong angle and dig into the reed instead of skimming material off the surface. It takes a practiced touch and even then, a little carelessness can go much farther in destroying a reed than a piece of rush can.
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2021-03-29 19:23
Karl:
How, if at all, using this forum, can I, in a thread, quote a post of the thread that is not the immediately prior post?
To rephrase my question, I see a button marked "Quote" at the bottom of the screen but what it seems to do is quote only the immediately prior post.
You seemed to quote a post of mine that was not immediately prior: which is why I asked you.
Perhaps you created the ">" symbols yourself; or perhaps I don't know how to quote posts other than the one immediately prior and could use a tutorial.
Thanks.
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2021-03-29 19:40
According to the video these high speed steel (hss) lathe tools don’t seem to be as sharp as Geeks. Presumably the flat faces of these lathe tool could be polished using a fine abrasive paper on plate glass or maybe with a fine grinding paste to improve the sharpness of the corners. The surface of the lathe tool in the video looks reasonably polished but presumably that could be improved upon to get a sharper edge. Can anyone familiar with hss say whether the above methods of polishing would work on this material?
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Author: kdk
Date: 2021-03-29 21:28
SecondTry wrote:
> Karl:
>
> How, if at all, using this forum, can I, in a thread, quote a
> post of the thread that is not the immediately prior post?
>
I usually open the post I'm actually responding to, wherever it is in the thread, click <quote> and trim it down to the part I want to include, type my reply and then cut-and-paste the whole thing into a new reply to the top (original) post in the thread.
Karl
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Author: kdk
Date: 2021-03-29 21:33
Of course, you can skip the final cut-and-paste to a new reply and just leave your reply in line with the post you're replying to (and quoting from), as I did for these two replies. It just looks less confusing to me to see all the new posts in a straight line instead of branching from several different points in the tree.
I use threaded view. I don't actually know how any of this looks if you're using the non-threaded view in which all the message texts appear in full. But the principal should be the same.
Karl
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2021-03-29 22:59
Thanks Karl.
I was not using "threaded view,"(which I now will) which, from what little I can see, allows a logged in user to quote any post in a thread, whereas "flat view," at least for me, limits me to quote only the last entered post of a thread.
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Author: nellsonic
Date: 2021-03-30 08:41
I put together $20 "reed improvement kits" for my students who are first learning to adjust reeds. They include a machine bit. Works fine for what they use it for.
Anders
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Author: OneWatt
Date: 2021-04-03 05:12
I promised to report back if I had any luck with my generic "Reed Geek" lathe bit - obtained at a buy-it-now price of <$10 on that auction site.
UPDATE: Success indeed. I'm amazed at how handy this little bit can be.
I took reeds for which I'd given up hope (having used ATG, vixen flat file, tactical sandpaper) and created a number of delightfully responsive, clean sounding reeds. I can't believe what has been possible.
No doubt in my mind, the genuine Reed Geek must work... but if I can achieve results with the prudent use of an inexpensive lathe bit, it seems like a no-brainer given the price differential.
To my surprise, I've even turned a few badly chipped, frayed-tip reeds (i.e., unplayable) into star performers. This was easier than I'd expected...
Basic method: First I clipped off the damaged tips with my no-name reed trimmer (also <$10), producing an unchipped tip - and rendering the reed way too thick to even make a sound.
I then ran the back of the reed along my vixen flat file to thin it out a bit, also ensuring a flat smooth back to sit against the mouthpiece table.
Then, holding the reed against my finger, I "geeked" away at the surface, thinning out the two triangular-shaped areas surrounding the soon-to-be new heart area of the reed (situated further away from the tip than the original heart given the reed's reduced length from tip clipping).
I also used the lathe bit edge in a small zone (this time across the entire width) just below the tip, at about 1/8" to 1/4" from the tip, thereby reducing the reed to a more playable strength.
For good measure, I then applied a little ATG treatment on the new tip area and addressed any imbalance that I introduced with my lathe bit shaving. This refined things further.
End result: I now have a handful of what are my current "go-to" reeds. They sound and respond beautifully, better than most others I enjoyed playing before. How long they'll last? I don't know yet. But I felt obliged to share this update.
No, it didn't actually cost me $3 as advertised on the YouTube video. More like $9 ;-)
So it's well worth a try, unless of course you get free reeds from one of those companies that put 2 or 3 decent reeds in each box of 10 - in which case I probably wouldn't bother adjusting reeds.
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Israel = Ancient Hebrew for "Wrestles with God"
Klarinet = Ancient Greek for "Struggles with Reeds"
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2021-04-03 17:21
I bought 5 of these bits for £10 from the company mentioned in the video. Mine are 6mm (1/ 4”) square (rather than the 8mm of the Geek) and 75mm (3”) long. They don’t seem to do 8mm, which is fine.
They’re very straight/flat and seem slightly polished but I’m sure the cutting edges, though good, could be improved with more polishing of the faces. Any ideas on how to polish very flat high speed steel?
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Author: OneWatt
Date: 2021-04-03 19:28
Bill_D wrote:
> What are your bit dimensions?
Mine is 3/8" x 3/8" and about 3" long. It seems to be close to the Reed Geek proportions. Feels comfortable in the hand and convenient size for achieving a targeted but even slope on the reed.
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Israel = Ancient Hebrew for "Wrestles with God"
Klarinet = Ancient Greek for "Struggles with Reeds"
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The Clarinet Pages
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