Author: vboboe
Date: 2009-01-26 18:07
<<the trouble is I am not always free to tie it when it is ready ... >>
Ah, there's the root of your over-soaking problem
Schedule your 'tie-on cane' session in a time slot you're free to commit to this task, then put cane to soak just early enough to be ready by then
Another thing i find helps earlier sinking is using extra-fine emery to smooth the insides of the dry cane first, this removes the roughness that permit a large colony of air bubbles to cling as long as they possibly can, very smooth surface releases air bubbles faster -- of course, be very careful not to break the fold while sanding
<<Just wonder for those who purchase "gouged, shaped and folded" cane and are doing every step right, what your success rate is with those cane>>
I can make nearly every one of them tie OK now, and that's with Glotin GSF, but can't say for other brands
anyway, to begin with i couldn't get them to close up the sides consistently when retraining my rusty skills, so ham-fistedness may be part of the problem yet for you, equals you're not yet doing every step quite right if they're not closing, or you've got junky irregular cane pieces, although i doubt that
just double-checking to be absolutely certain here -- you are tying on the cane piece before cutting the fold? You're not trying to tie two pieces on separately?
OK, if you free your mind of rigid rules of procedural rightness and focus instead on achieving the objective by adjusting this and that a tad to get the desired result, you'll find the cane ties on very nicely and sides close too
however, the one important guideline is to tie the cane parallel on the 'flat' sides of the tube's slightly elliptical shape, but as the thread wrap tends to push the cane off that plane, there needs to be a very subtle adjustment in the way you're angling your thumb and forefinger holding the cane in place
against that shift
i find it very helpful to tuck the mandrel against side of belly with forearm, and lay the mandrel & tube on forearm and palm directly in alignment with thumb & forefinger holding the cane firmly in place, it's a bit like a splint, then ever so slightly twist left hand inwards, the opposite direction to the right overhand thread wrap
The other important guideline is to make sure the gaps on each side are equal before attempting to finish the closing wraps to 47mm, if your thumb & forefinger aren't holding the cane firmly enough after initial positioning, they'll go awry as soon as the first wrap and tension is applied
if it really won't close, first try turning the cane over, and if that doesn't do it, then drop cane in hand hot water for 10 seconds, and tube too, and if the mandrel's metal is really cold, heat that up as well, then tie quickly before all cool off, wam cane reshapes better even if fibres are previously warped out of alignment by awkward first attempt at tying
if you had a real struggle to close the sides, after finished with tying and it looks good at last, debark the fold both sides from 70mm up, and then wrap some tape firmly around thread to mid cane section before completely drying and setting the blank for 2-3 days, then remove the tape (some people use wire instead, but it always nips the cane and leaves dents)
the tape acts like a restrictive bandage forcing the sides to remain shut even if the cane wants to spring apart while drying
debarking the fold reduces tension and helps the cane's arc flatten out (which could lead to being too closed later, but training the sides to stay together after having trouble getting them to close during tying takes priority at this stage, reshaping the reed to be more open can be done later)
of course the tube itself must be a regular ellipse, if it's warped slightly out of shape, that will make tying on more challenging
hope some of these tips help work things out better for you
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