Author: JMarzluf
Date: 2011-04-02 07:10
I have been reading all of the gouge-related discussion with great interest. There is far too little information on this subject available to the average do-it-yourself oboist. If you don't have a skilled teacher available, it is nearly impossible to learn the real ins and outs of gouging.
Now, with regard to your newest post, Robert: Also at issue, I believe, is the relationship of the guide and the blade. I see this as a possible fault/oversight with your current design, but I could be wrong. Ideally, I would like to see better close-up pictures of the prototype, or -- better yet -- I would love to have one in my lap! It certainly looks like a very well-crafted machine.
My current understanding is that the guide, which is primarily responsible for holding the cane down in the bed while gouging (thus "feeding" the cane to the blade in a controlled manner), is also very important in ensuring the consistency of the gouge after the blade has been removed for sharpening. If the guide and blade are a match, then you can (through some effort) perfectly align the blade with the guide. This can be checked by measuring the thickness of the shavings produced during gouging, making sure that they are the same thickness at all points from one side to the other (left-to-right). In this way, you can be sure that: 1. your blade is in the same position that it was before you removed it, and 2. you did not change the shape of the blade during the sharpening process.
All adjustments made to the machine in order to change the relative thickness of the center vs. sides must be made to the carriage as a whole (including both the guide and blade as a single unit) in order to maintain consistency.
Also, I am a little lost on the topic of grind angle as it relates to blade curvature. Are you assuming that the blade curvature of a double-radius machine is still "round" (with a measurable, consistent, radius), as it is with a single radius machine? I do not think this is usually the case. I am certainly not a true expert, but I was under the impression that at least most of the successful double radius machines out there incorporate an irregularly-shaped blade, which gives that particular gouge a proprietary "character" all its own. The important effect is on the RATE OF CHANGE from thick (center) to thin (sides), as well as the actual ratio itself.
PLEASE correct me if my concerns are unfounded, or if my impressions are based solely on the alternate reality I tend to fabricate in my own mind as I stare at cane for so many hours at a time!
Best regards,
Jonathan
http://www.marzlufreeds.com/
Post Edited (2011-04-02 07:13)
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