Author: vboboe
Date: 2008-03-24 19:02
for the benefit of newbie reed-makers, who are easily confused with the idea of making reeds for just one oboe let alone two different oboes, one instrument is backup, let's digest some comments i've made and others have made, so there can be more clarity
it's not a judgement call of 'must do & should do' but rather 'what works really well for me and gets the right results'
my understanding from EaubeauH's post is that (he/she) is using purchased ready-to-tie cane, and not DIY shaping it individually, therefore the cane is already gouged, shaped & folded, has probably been in storage in that shape awhile, and is already *bone dry*
johnt's comment assumes the cane is coming directly off the DIY shaper and jhoyla says pop the ears <<After soaking your gouged/shaped/folded cane for the requisite amount of time>>
When using ready-to-tie cane, shaped elsewhere and purchased bone dry, it has to be pre-soaked <<the requisite amount of time>> so it can be tied on without cracking, but at that stage, the cane is absolutely too wet to make a finished, playable reed, quoting johnt et al <<in my experience, it is never good to shape/tie/scrape in one sitting>> -- that's definitely the 'gold standard' advisory -- the cane is too wet to make a finished reed when it's been soaked enough to tie it on
prepping the cane pieces ready for tying one usually starts out with thinning the butt ends down so they'll grade off to the tube, the freshly sharpened knife is out and in use at this stage -- and those ears are very tempting ... and yes, if confident and capable with knife skills, this is the most opportune moment in the work sequence to trim the ears off as well
tying-on cane while the ears are still on is definitely more fiddly to do than with the ears trimmed off (winding over has to be longer thread to avoid catching on the ears & this compromises optimum tension) but it really depends on how confident Anybody feels using (his/her) reed knife, which is not the same thing as how skillful Somebody actually is with the reed knife
more important -- if Everybody is following the other 'gold standard' advisory to *keep the reed knife really sharp* -- newbies often skip this bit in a hurry to get finished, it takes so many hours getting the hang of things in the beginning, touching up the blade *again!* seems like too much time and trouble, even when well aware and knowing full well that a slightly dull knife can quickly ruin hours of reed work effort
being a renewbie myself, i've discovered the youthful handy skills i used to have must be restructured by what i'm not capable of now in my dotage, so devising IdiotProof methods is a high priority for me, and many of my suggestions are based on IdiotProofing
for example <<hold the cane in a tight "vee" by the edges of the narrow end, and place the flat of a bevel knife under the ears, flat with the shaped sides of the cane. A gentle push will take off most of the ear >> is actually a very tricky maneuver for yours truly with slightly arthritic fingers (first thing in the bright morning light after cane pieces have pre-soaked overnight, so they must be tied on right away) -- well, the cane is just too thin to be grasped firmly enough for the knife pressure required on full-bark cane, one skittered slip and oops, another useless cane piece @ $2.cents a pop -- there's enough wastage from sorting cane pieces and discarding bowed edge cane, flawed grain cane etc. as it is
so, debarking the fold end first before trimming off the ears requires less pressure from the knife hand to trim the ears, the cane is tied on and holding very firm already, that's my IdiotProofing, to avoid <<over-doing>> the trimming -- many of the pieces i used to trim ears off had scalloped sides !
i absolutely prefer to order ready-to-tie cane pieces with no ears ...
the bottom line here is, the ears certainly do have to be trimmed off, but exactly when Somebody does that can be determined by
(a) timely & practical efficiency in the work order sequence
(b) confidence and capability skills with the reed knife & cane handling
(c) relative sharpness or slightly dulled edge on the reed knife from work done with knife already
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