Author: jeremyreeds
Date: 2011-04-02 12:24
Hello, I find this (and previous) thread interesting.
I have a Howarth oboe gouging machine which have served me very well, and 2 "copies" that I got made with different diameter beds and angles of the tool (blade) carriage, etc. -variations-
I make a lot of reeds, and I am not very particular about the gouging dimensions of the gouged piece of cane that I make my reeds from. I have come to the conclusion that the most important aspect of reed making is the cane, the older the better. Right now I am making reeds with cane 15 years old, I am getting great results and I am sure this results would be as good as if I was gouging the same cane by hand. I understand the advantages of mechanising the process, speed, concistency, etc., etc. In this machanisation and innovative process it would be very nice if by gouging cane we could come up with an already sounding reed, first step would be to create a 'spine' in the gouge, so that we would only have to scrape the windows and tip. Isn't this what the 'double radius' is about?
For what I have read so far, in these 2 threads, and here: http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6683238/description.html, particularly in the line that reads:
"One example of a gouging machine is a double-radius gouge having a blade that cuts slightly off-center so that only one side of the cutter blade contour is cutting out cane. The cane is flipped repeatedly in its holder and re-gouged until the final dimensions are met."
the only thing we need to have double radius gouge is to set the blade (tool) off-center (off-set), and that could probably be done with most machines. Am I wrong?
Regards
Jeremias
|
|
The Oboe BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
