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Re: Gouger Settings

Author: jhoyla
Date: 2010-07-14 07:00

Hi Robin,

I have Martin Schuring's edition of the Barret method, and it does not contain the section to which you refer. Obviously, scraping the inside of the cane should be done after the gouge but before folding, if at all.

I think the main purpose would be to smooth out troughs caused by fibres that were ripped out by the gouger. These could cause longitudinal weaknesses if allowed to remain in the cane. Perhaps the same effect could be achieved by gouging very lightly (zero vertical pressure) for the final few strokes.

I also agree that tying is very important. Tying too tightly - even if one does not tie over the end of the staple - can throttle a reed and prevent good vibration. I have experimented with this as follows:

A reed that was well scraped and looked excellent with good measurements was not vibrating well. I wrapped the blades in cling-film/saran-wrap to keep them in place, cut the crossover thread to release the pressure, and then wrapped up to the top again with a new thread (more lightly this time). Hey presto - a magical reed! I deduce from this that wrapping too tightly can stifle a reed.

Regarding the flattening of the edges of the shaped cane, my teacher showed me how to do this 35 years ago! care must be taken not to make nicks in the cane since these will definitely leak.

There is a small device one can purchase to hold the blades in the perfect position for tying with no overlap, as seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpBJL3w17vM
I use a narrow roll of cling-film and achieve good results.

Other methods that I have read about include creating a little fully-folded dolly using thin cotton thread, and then tying the soaked cane tightly onto a heated mandrel, letting it cool and then releasing. The resulting cane is pre-formed to the shape of the staple in this manner with no danger of cracking while wrapping onto the staple subsequently.

J.

Post Edited (2010-07-14 07:06)

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