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Re: Tying Reeds

Author: jhoyla
Date: 2011-05-11 07:11

I have a few tiny variations on Mary's method - but essentially, I think it is what we all do to achieve well-sealing reeds.

1. I thin the ends from the inside and not the outside, leaving the bark intact. I do this because in my experiments the cane cracks less this way (the shiny bark perhaps has less tendency to crack along the grain than the inner layers, which have almost no tensile strength across the grain). Anyhow, small cracks in the thinned end don't affect the finished reed unless they extend past the thread. Thinning the ends is merely cosmetic, in any case.

2. I wrap my folded cane tightly with cling-film to achieve a minimal overlap - usually not visible on the finished reed without a magnifying glass. This is where Fabrice's little gadget is probably superior. The little "dolly" grips the staple tightly all by itself, almost like having an extra hand.

3. I use a slotted-head screw with a smooth shank as my anchor; lay the thread through the slot and wrap 4 times round the tail end just the way you wrap up to the top of a staple. No need to knot the thread and it keeps thread wastage to a minimum. I got the idea from Kerry Willingham's little video on the Wrapping Machine. You don't need the machine, but the anchor is a truly neat idea.

4. Another idea I adopted from the video mentioned above; I have attached a metal ruler to the underside of my work surface to that it can slide out and fix at a set length, and I use it to quickly and accurately set the tie-on length. I adjust this as necessary while wrapping to ensure full closure.

5. I use a vernier caliper to ensure I don't wrap over the top of the staple, irrespective of the final wrap-length (which is adjustable).

I tied 9 blanks yesterday in just over an hour including set-up, shaping and tear-down. I scrape 3mm and clip, set the overlap if necessary (mostly not), and leave to dry vertically for 24 hrs before putting the blanks into the blank box, where they can sit for many weeks or months before being scraped into reeds.

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