Aha! My staple eyes were too narrow… my reed was squinting into a sharp A only in the first octave, whilst note around it seemed all right. Damndest thing because it seem to me if A is out of tune, the notes around it should be somewhat so as well…
Anyway, open staple, get A in tune… just noting on the forum because no one around here seems too particularly interested in my reed making exploits… although the cat seems to have fun with all the little cane pearings strewn about…
cheers,
DJones
cats…yeech 
so many cats, so few recipies…
Good Luck with your reedmaking~ Sounds like youve really made a quantum leap!
I had a major break through this weekend.
I had two reeds both with good tone, both octaves in tune with each other, awesome Hard D, but alas the back D was not to be had.
I suppose you made sure they were not leaking?
One Reed has a very sharp Back D. So I believe I cut it back too much. It was playing very strong and at this point I chopped it. I think that I should have sanded it and let it sit for a bit and then maybe chopped it.
When trying to tape the back D hole I find that I need to cover at least 3/4 of it in order to bring it into tune which makes the note too weak.
For the other reed, back D is very flat. I’m going to check this one for leaks but this reed split while I was tying it. I attempted to use krazy glue. So we’ll see.
Any input is appreciated.
If your reed with a flat back d isn’t leaking, you could try chopping it back a bit, which may sharpen the whole thing, but back d more than the other notes.
The sharp one, you could try extending the scrape back a bit farther, you don’t have much to lose. It might help.
You might want to try non-destructive adjustments first.
Open the reed slightly, insert further into chanter, make the staple eye a little bigger, withdraw the staple from reedhead a little, make reedhead wider (and perhaps shorter) etc.,
Opposite for sharp back Ds of course..
I’ll let you guys know the outcome.
Another question.
The best results I got where when the thickness of the slip was around .033’’ at this point I was able to tie the reed closed about 1/8’’ from the staple eye. Its amazing what a few thousands of an inch will do.
AlanB, I looked at you’re website and in Fig. 5 the thickness of each blade is much greater than mine. How much is this going to vary with Cane hardness? I only have the stuff I ordered from spain so I have no basis of comparison.
Darth,
Obviously, harder cane needs to be thinner to get the flexibility out of it, but the staple shape and diameter, the width of the cane, the length of the head have so many variables, it is possible to get a perfectly good working reed out of very different measurements and very different quality cane.
I use mostly cane from Medir in Spain and find it breaks down almost to 1/3 a little too hard, 1/3 a little too soft and 1/3 just right (if I’m lucky), but a reed can be got from all of it if it is not too warped etc.,
I reckon mostly that I use a thickness of between 1.3 - 1.5 mm (.050 - .059) and don’t consider that I make a reed that’s exceptionally heavy to play. But, .030 seems very thin. When I tie on, I don’t want the staple to produce a huge curvature (in the head, above the binding, of course the tails need to bend a fair bit) away from the natural shape that has been formed by sanding/gouging/scraping whatever and the thinner the cane, the more prone it is to being mishapen by tying on. (this is my opinion and I’m sure others can manage to avoid this with whatever technique they use).
Get the NPU DVD if you haven’t already got it, it is full of nuggets and reed pórn.
Thank you so much for the info. I do have the videos and they are wonderful, however, they do not answer questions. If I could pick your brain for just one more.
I’m wondering if my thin slip is a result of the method I’m using.
Looking at your site again I’m wondering if my thinner slip is a result of not creating a chamber for the staple. I assume that the additional material in the tails would require an overall reduction of material across the entire slip hence additional flex to close the blades when tying.
Sounds good to me. I think that not 2nd gouging the tails is desirable for a more uniform reed, and hopefully, therefore, a more stable reed and is therefore probably the best process. (but there are benefits in 2nd gouging too, I tend to vascillate depending on ‘whatever’) But I do also think that the thinner the slip, the narrower it needs to be too, and you may have to compensate for this in the staple design and that’s where it starts getting a bit tricky
Looking at my site, I think it needs updating…
Anyway, it never hurts to try everything if you have the time!
p.s. I think erratic behaviour in different humidities may be exacerbated by unduly thin cane.
BUt hey, we’re all different…
Thank you for taking the time to respond. Some great information!
… from one of the best.