Hi all,
I did a quick search prior to posting this, but couldn’d find anything on reedmaking cane from Australia, so I thought I’d post the url of a mob in South Australia that sell chanter reed cane…
http://www.reedsaus.com.au/canefo.htm
Cheers,
DavidG
Reeds Australia (reedsaus.com.au) are in the business of making saxophone and clarinet reeds. They use quite big diameter cane tubes to do this (over 25mm) As a result they have loads of cane tubes that are a good size for up reeds (at least the type I make) that I have been able to buy for a good price (cant remember the price as it was ages ago when I last bought from them and i still have loads left).
Their cane tends to be quite hard as this is what is required for the reeds they make. One thing that I have done on a number of occasions is visit their plantation and taken the laterals which would otherwise get burnt. They are a good hardness and wall thickness and make good drone reeds.
They have always been friendly and easy to deal with.
Cheers,
Giles
I wish to post a reply to this subject as I was very dissapointed in the quality of the cane they sent me. My wife ordered me some cane as a birthday present after looking through my reed making notes to find the required specifications.
What I got was 1 Kilogram of bent cane with inconsistent diameters along the lengths of tubing. I made about 10 reeds from the few straight sections that I could find before only bent tubes remained.
I guess they recognised that my wife knew nothing about cane from her emails and figured they could get rid of some undesirable cane to a beginner in reed making who wouldn’t be able to make a decent reed if provided with good quality tubes of cane.
The hardness of their cane gives a bright tone to the reeds, but my experience is that you have to buy a lot of cane to find a small amount of usable cane. - I’d be trying somewhere else if I were you.
*goldy wrote:
*
I wish to post a reply to this subject as I was very dissapointed in the quality of the cane they sent me.
DavidG:
Did you write and complain? What sort of response did you get if you did? I’d be intereted to know.
Cheers,
DG
I considered complaining as it might have resulted in them sending some decent cane to appologise, but I just decided that I would never go to them for cane or recommend them for cane in the future. If they are the sort of business that likes to take advantage of amateurs and save the good cane for regular customers or friends, I don’t want to have any more to do with them.
I was actually warned by someone (who shall remain nameless incase he doesn’t want to go on record with his opinion) that the scenario I experienced was likely from Reeds Australia.
I’ll try some of that ‘medir’ cane from Spain that the Americans rave about next time.
I bought a case of Medir cane from him about ten years ago. It is highly recommended and I still have some of the original tubes which still turn out good reeds. I guess that fact that I’ve had to only make three reeds in the past ten years is testament to the quality of his cane.
Cheers,
DavidG
I would call Reeds Australia and talk to them about the cane you recieved from them. I know that they are not the types of people to be taking advantage of anyone. I am not saying that anyone should be recommending anything about them, just that goldy’s experience seems like communication breakdown rather than reedsaust tying to take advantage of anyone.
The first time I bought cane from them it was ridiculously cheap/kg. What I got was about 10 Kg of cane tubes (a lot of it). I would say that about 1/3 to 1/2 of it was bent on one end or across its whole length. Out of the bent pieces I am often able to get one, sometimes 2 good slips.
The next time i bought from them I asked them to sort the cane for me, they said they would do this but that it would raise the price (fair enough).
I wonder if goldy’s wife asked for sorted, straight tubes or not?
I am in no way assosciated with Reeds Australia and don’t really care who does business with them it just seems a shame to make inuendo and quote hearsay and suggest that there is some kind of old boys network or preferential treatment standard going on with them, quite ridiculous actually!![/i]
You know, when all else fails, you could always grow your own. Sure it will take a few years to dry and cure the stuff, but once you get going, YOU can pick and choose the ‘primo’ tubes. Garunteed product quality. 
Um, Joseph, your new avatar … is it the right plant? I don’t see five leaves, there …
djm
…uh…it’s a hybrid.
I seem to have succesfully scrounged a sample of their cane, I’ll let you know what I think when it arrives, if I can think that is. (I specified definite diam and quality) This weeks flavour is Argentinian, verrrry creamy (colour that is).
Alan
Giles b,
I think that what you said is fair. I was dissapointed with the cane and it is a bit of a sore spot for me, which is why I went flying off at the mouth when I saw the discussion thread. I don’t want to contribute to Reeds Australia gaining a bad reputation due to what could have been, as you say, a ‘communication breakdown’. Until I have spoken to them, I shouldn’t give my one-sided opinion, nor make assumptions about how they do business based on the words of someone else.
I appologise to Reeds Australia and anyone else who found my remarks offensive. Shame on me!. I’ll confiscate my chanter from myself for a week so that I can think about what I did. - 
Oh my God!, my daughter is only 1 year old and I’m already talking like the parent of a seven-year-old!
No need to apologise Goldy, “When you order Cane” the supplier should
send straight cane, if your going to start a business, you make sure you know what your sending customers, obviously they know there selling cane for reed making to most of the clients, so the cane needs to be fairly straight, you dont need to a rocket scientist to work that out, I got cane from Medir, the cane was perfect, no problem at all, sometimes cane can be a hard when you get it and needs to be conditioned to soften it up a little, there’s a lot more to making reeds than what you think, and sending
bent cane is not going to help learner reed makers, sort your selfs out Reeds Australia. 
Reedman,
Thanks for your feedback on the topic.
I didn’t know that it was possible to soften cane. I thought that if it is of hard density, you have to adjust your reed specifications to compensate. Ausdag has been kind enough to give me some of his medir cane that is said to be on a bit on the hard side. Could you offer some tips on how to condition cane to soften it so I can make the most of this good cane.
Goldy.
Sorry, took me five years to learn this 
, reed making is going to be part of my future income shortly, but it takes time to soften it, you can’t do it over night, I do a hole batch of two Kilo’s at a time,depending on the quality and hardness of the cane when it arrives, when you order cane from Medir ask him for as old a cane he has in stock, he sometimes has cane from two or three seasons back, this is what your after, if you don’t ask him you’ll probably get last season’s, two kilo’s of cane sure makes an awful lot of reeds, more than enough than what a piper would ever need or use in a lifetime, a kilo of good cane should produce between three to five hundred good reeds, infact maybe more.
I just received some cane from Auscane. It arrived 6 days after requesting it, which is a pretty good response. I asked for a few tubes to try, but they sent me some slips (about 7 pieces). It’s not from very straight tubes admittedly, but it’s mostly useable. Looks like it came from 23mm diam tubes, which gives little leeway for your reeds. (I had requested “cane of a diameter 23 - 25mm. It must also be straight tubes with no warps and of a medium hardness.” The cane was marked soft/medium, medium/hard and hard, and there was a fair amount of pith on it. I put one together quickly out of the medium/hard, but I’d have marked it Hard myself , and the best description I can give is it felt sugary under the gouge (???). It required concentration to keep my fingers intact when gouging.. I expected the head to crack when tying on, but I got away with it ok. The result was pleasing, good and bright (maybe even coarse, but new reeds always are a bit ‘clacky’), but I’m dubious of the longevity. All in all, I’d say it was too much hard work for UP reeds, and certainly too hard if you’re inexperienced. I wouldn’t think softening is worth it. Still, if it’s all you can get, it will do the job. Hope this is of use to someone…
Alan
Cheers Alan for shareing your experience and views on this cane, I still like Medir’s cane, I get good results with it, the cooler northern climates produce better cane I think, its able to grow at a much steadier pace, than
cane grown in countrie’s with high tempertures, and dry climate, so Medir
gets top marks from me. 
all the best.