 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: kimber
Date: 2011-03-23 19:35
Has anyone tried one of the Kyocera ceramic reed knives? Do they really hold their edge 'for years?' I'm very tempted...
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2011-03-23 19:44
I use the Kyocera knives for cooking, and they need resharpening every year or two. You just send them to a Kyocera sharpening place.
Don't know how they'd hold up as a reed knife, but assume they WILL need sharpening occasionally.
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Author: RobinDesHautbois
Date: 2011-03-23 19:47
In theory, the harder the material (the more resistance it has to scratching) the better it will hold its edge.
BUT the harder it is to ensure its edge. I like it as hard as it gets because I don't believe in burrs.
Ceramic stones are the best, so I can only suppose that the knives are a definite viable possibility.
Robin Tropper
M.A.Sc., B.Mus., B.Ed.
http://RobinDesHautbois.blogspot.ca/music
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Author: JRC
Date: 2011-03-23 20:48
I do not think ceramic makes a good material as an oboe reed knife. Ceramic is hard and would maintain it edge sharper longer. But is is easily chipped as it is fundamentally a brittle material. Oboe reed knife material should be as resilient as it is hard. We would rather want to have the edge bent over instead of chipped. We can always restore the bent edge. Chipped edge is not going to be good. Finding a balance is the secret of the oboe knife material.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2011-03-23 20:53
JRC wrote:
> But is is easily chipped as it is fundamentally a
> brittle material.
True, but what, when making a reed, would cause a chip?
Ceramic knives used in cooking have limitations based on the brittleness - not to be used near a bone, they don't flex (therefore are no good as a fish filleting knife), and cutting onto a hard surface (such as a piece of glass or another ceramic) is verboten.
But I don't see how those cases would be a detriment to a reed knife. I have used ceramic knives for years. I have broken one tip through my own fault, but never chipped an edge.
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Author: cjwright
Date: 2011-03-23 21:49
Depending on how you scrape, you scrape the blade against a metal plaque. I wear my plaques out because the sides get so thin from being worn down that they get sharp and cut slivers off the sides of my reeds, causing them to leak. If a bone would dull/chip a blade, a metal plaque surely would.
Blog, An Oboe In Paradise
Solo Oboe, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra
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Author: kimber
Date: 2011-03-24 01:34
I have both wooden and blue steel plaques - the wooden one is thicker/contoured and seems to support the reed tip better through the middle anyways. So that isn't a big issue - but somthing I wouldn't have thought of with the ceramic blade.
Post Edited (2011-03-24 01:35)
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Author: GoodWinds ★2017
Date: 2011-03-24 04:05
Oh Suzanna, yes, and they're on sale through many double-reed suppliers. The grenadilla ones aren't much more pricey than a metal plaque, and I think many are convex, which means the tip is held open while you scrape it.
I'm just getting used to using one, and I won't use it all the time, but if I want to really trim down the sides of a tip, the convex, wooden plaque is the Bomb.
GoodWinds
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Author: huboboe
Date: 2011-03-24 05:19
I agree with Mark: even if you don't chip the blade accidentally, it will need sharpening. And it's a slicing knife, not a scraper and the Kyocera folks will resharpen it as a slicer. I'd avoid anything you can't sharpen yourself. Nothing is more deadly to reed making than the knife that is too dull to cut really well but not dull enough to motivate you to sharpen it yet...
As to wooden plaques, I've used them almost exclusively for years and love the fact that, because the arch of the cane is supported, you can take wood off of one particular area without including the adjacent areas. It also doesn't dull the knife like a steel one does. I can make four or five reeds before I need to resharpen my knife and I am a sharp knife fanatic! Try one; you'll like it...
Bob
Robert Hubbard
WestwindDoubleReed.com
1-888-579-6020
bob@westwinddoublereed.com
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