Author: jhoyla
Date: 2008-03-09 07:19
Hi Cooper,
Regarding reeds that have been over-tied beyond the end of the staple, it probably depends on the tension in the thread whether the cane is re-usable or not. At the tension I usually tie at, if I go over the end of the staple I warp the cane beyond repair. This is why I always mark the cane with a pencil AND have a vernier caliper set at 47 to confirm, before I wrap over and down.
Factory-made reeds seem to be tied at a much lower tension, however, so are probably salvageable.
For #3, I meant a reed with too much cane on the staple - you either have a reed with a huge overlap, or it flares (blades stand apart at the tip).
If you meant the "3. You wish to change the staple length..", I have one or two staples at 46 mm. I have had very bad experiences with hard, flat reeds. When trying to bring cane up to pitch by clipping, I get into an endless cycle of clip for pitch, scrape for response, clip for pitch ... eventually, the reed ends up short, shrill, unstable and scraped so thin I could probably shine a light right through it. And that's when I give up.
So I am trying to change the staple length early in the cycle. Not much success yet, I must admit.
Regarding #5 in the problem list, again, it is a question of degree. If the reed is tied too far to one side it probably is beyond repair. However, there is a point where it is still salvageable. Also, I sometimes notice this after I have clipped the top and test the vacuum, before I have allowed the blank to stand and dry. At this point in time it is definitely salvageable.
I suppose the main point is, for those of us who only make for ourselves in relatively small quantities, every piece of cane counts. I don't have either the availability of cane or the economy of scale (and gouging) to just chuck every reed that turns out wrong, so I experiment like crazy.
I know I'm probably just re-discovering the wheel - but nobody ever showed me the wheel :-)
J.
Post Edited (2008-03-13 14:12)
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