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Re: Trouble with Tips

Author: huboboe
Date: 2012-05-28 22:19

Craig - I've used your sandpaper trick for years. I agree that dulling the paper by rubbing it on itself is a necessity - otherwise it cuts too fast.

The tip is probably blended from the heart out to the thin corners, so when you angle the tip and draw it across the sandpaper you are not just sanding the corner, but the area behind it as the thin corner folds out of the way and the thicker, less pliant cane behind it resists bending. This is good as long as you don't overdo it... I use this to even out the blend, with a flatter angle working the area closer to the heart and a steeper angle working the area closer to the tip and corners.

When my intention is just to thin the corners, I wrap a strip of wet-or-dry over the cork of a tube and use it like a file with the plaque in the reed.

Mary, another point I don't remember seeing addressed on this forum is that magic place where the 'half-moon' of the blend meets the edge of the reed: there is a tendency not to get the knife sufficiently over to the edge, resulting in a tiny tick or 'L' where the curve of the half-moon meets the edge. This tiny chunk of wood makes all the difference between a reed that responds freely and one that doesn't. The sanding technique can refine this place, too.

And, of course, a sharp knife is the first order of business. You don't necessarily need to sharpen it more frequently, but you must sharpen it when it gets dull. If you are getting fuzz instead of clean chips, your knife is dull.

I would suggest you save the blades of your best reeds (an index card and a spot of glue works...). This will give you a sense of the look of the reeds that work, and when you start getting frustrated you might find that you have unknowlingly departed from that model.

Robert Hubbard
WestwindDoubleReed.com
1-888-579-6020
bob@westwinddoublereed.com

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Trouble with Tips new

GoodWinds

2012-05-24 06:36