Author: Oboe Craig
Date: 2011-01-21 22:07
A little discussion on reed economics.
Gouged cane costs $1.80 - $2.30 a piece, less for larger quantities.
So say you make a reed a day, 5 days a week like I do and 50 weeks a year.
At $2.00 a piece for gouged cane, that is $500 per year.
Say you play oboe for 20 years doing this. Thats $10,000.00 for cane.
If you equip yourself with a gouger, cane splitter, guillotine, pre-gouger, and shaper, that will set you back around $2,000. One time.
Cane runs around $140 per pound and usually yields around 250 useful pieces.
So, you will need 2 pounds a year @ $240 and that is a recurring cost.
Savings of $260 per year will pay off the gouger and stuff in under 8 years.
In 20 years, its a $3120 difference in savings. That is just the cash. Really good things started to happen for me once I started gouging. Find a good crop of cane, buy several more pounds (invest part of the $3120 bank) and stockpile for future use.
Get several pounds ahead, then keep buying from new sources if others verify good results.
I did that for 20 + years and now only buy oboe cane once in a while.
Gouging and shaping are not hard, and don't take much time. There are other costs, such as blade sharpening services now and then and I do not account for inflation in cane in this simple model, or lost potential interest gains for the investment $. But, I have found this whole adventure very rewarding and a huge benefit to quality results in my reed making.
(Unlike my FB rants, this does not need to be read in the tone of Lewis Black) ![[toast]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smiley15.gif)
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