Cane Tube & Sanding Cylinder Size Calculator

Uilleann Pipes
1

From the first time I picked up a piece of cane for a reed, I noticed the variances in size from one tube to another. Even within a single tube of cane, there can be differences in the curvature from one section to another.

When I saw how the Oboe reedmakers do it, they have a circle template to select a tube with the right dimensions..or even a section of a tube which has the correct arc for the reed they are making.

This made me think about how to apply this to UP reeds.

As you see in the diagram, UP reed slip cross sections can be thought of as the intersection of two circles…the cane tube and the sanding cylinder.

The trick is to figure out what are the right dimensions to end up with a slip of the proper width and thickness. It turns out that it is a relatively simple geometry problem (I can go into the math if someone is curious).

A few internet searches for geometry formulas and a few hours of scratching my head has resulted in “Gary’s Reedmaking Calculator” (not available in any store!)

Two options are available. First if you know the dimensions of the slip and the gap between the lips that you want to end up with and put those in, you’ll get the IDEAL sizes for the sanding cylinder and cane tube.

Second option is that I know we don’t have an infinite supply of sanding cylinders in fractions of a millimeter…therefore, you can start with a sanding cylinder size, and calculate the cane tubes that will result in a slip of the correct size.

Once you have the tube size, then you can draw a circle on paper that size and compare that to your cane to select the right section to use. Another option is to go down to the local drafting supply store and buy a plastic circle template with a range that meets your needs.

I just got this working, so I have not tested the theory in the real world. I plan to do that tonight and will let you know what I find.

If anyone else gives it a test run, please let me know how it works out.

Disclaimer(s): I haven’t put ANY error recovery in the code yet, so if you enter something wrong (like trying to divide by zero), you’ll get a nasty error message.

I make no claims regarding the accuracy of the calculations or their suitability for your purposes…use of this calculator may cause blindness and respiratory ailments for which I and the owners of this forum are not liable. This may cause you to screw up large amounts of cane tubes..my limit of liability for your loss is the amount that you payed to use the calculator (exactly $0).

One last thing is that the code is in a test directory right now, and I’ll probably move it to a permanent home once Im satisfied with the code…so if you bookmark it, you’ll need to change that at some point.

Regards,
Gary

Gary’s Reedmaking Calculator

2

Gary,
Perhaps you have this thing backwards. It would be more useful if you put in the cane diameter first then use this information to calculate the cylander diameter.
Good idea!


All the best,
Pat Sky

3

Sorry, dude, its already been done. See Alan Moller’s reedmaking video from NPU. He uses one of those plastic drawing templates to measure cane with an OD of 25mm/1". I have seen on the web (can’t remember where off the top of my head) using the 1" OD of the cane against a 2" circle to get the inner curvature, therefore a 2" diameter sanding cylinder. For flat sets, use cane with OD of 20 mm.

djm

4

Thanks Pat. Yes, I’ll add that option as well.

DJM, I don’t have that video…so didn’t know. However, does he give you a handy dandy calculator for all possible cane diameters and slip widths/thicknesses? :slight_smile: -gary

5

Nice stuff Gary. Thanks for posting this…should be loads of fun to experiment with. :slight_smile:

6

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7

Sorry, Gary, I meant the bit about using a template to measure the cane - not the calculator. How would you know what curve you want to calculate to? Are you saying that the same dimensions would suit all reeds for all chanters in all pitches, or are you saying your calculator would allow the user to input varying values, in which case, I would wonder how the user is supposed to know in advance what values they want?

djm

8

Understood…this was a new one for me, so I thought it was a cool idea when I saw that the Oboe reedmakers do that.

To a certain extent its either trial and error, or you copy what your pipemaker has already done by measuring a working/previously working reed. This is obviously going to change based on the maker, chanter, pitch, etc.

The purpose of the calculator is to take the reed dimensions (once you have them) and give you a guide to select cane and sanding cylinders which will create consistent reed slips of those dimensions.

Slan,
Gary

9

Maybe to start this discussion . . . if you have a chanter 14 1/4" long, with a throat between 4.8 mm and 5.1 mm, the following could be a starting point

x = 1.5
y = 0.3 (yes, goldy, I used your target)
c = 13
D = 70
Cane tube = 25.17
G = 1.22

It might be worthwhile to follow the generally accepted belief that softer cane will have a greater tendency to collapse when it’s thinned, so a greater elevation (G) might be desirable.

To quote Pat from his excellent reedadjust.pdf booklet, “the older Rowsome type chanters, that are 14” to 14 1/8" inches long, tend to play a bit sharp to concert pitch." Trying to get these shorter, often large throated chanters, down into concert pitch can be a challenge (to put it politely). I don’t have enough data to speculate on a generic “starting point” for these short chanter copies.

Eric

10

Just to elaborate on the template (called a radius gage) in the Reedmaking for Oboe DVD, the template is a thin piece of metal (approx 6" x 1½") with about 6-7 half-circles cut out of the edge:

[u]-source[/u]

Since nature rarely provides a perfectly round tube of cane, you place a tube in one of these circles and rotate the tube till you find the section of cane that is perfect for the aperture and reed width you need. Then split this section out of the cane.

Anyone who can make a reed should be able to make one of these tools easily enough. Find a 1" circular stone and grind a half circle into the edge of a flat peice of metal, as per picture above. Even a round file of the right diameter/radius would work.

11

Ok, I updated the calculator per Pat’s suggestion, so there’s now an option to find the right sanding cylinder based on the cane tube you have.

Let me know if you find any errors.

I’ve used the calculations successfully and found they came out pretty close…at least as close as my margin for error for cutting, sanding, and measuring.

Regards,
gary

12

Gary, is Y the thickness of one slip, or of both slips at the edge? Since X is for only one slip, I’m thinking Y should be for one slip also, but thought I’d ask to be certain.

Thx,

djm

13

Yes, y is the thickness of one slip, one edge.
-g

14

Gary, another question: do you count the width of the slip when it is curved or when it is flattened?

Thx,

djm

15

Here’s a nifty hand gouging machine…if only it came with a bed/blade set up for Uilleann reed measurements.

…a ‘steal’ at $1,195.00 US… :open_mouth: :smiley: :smiley:

http://www.forrestsmusic.com/cane_gouging.htm

16

I like the end trimmer…

17

Curved.

18

That calculator is pretty impressive, Gary! Good one! I think it’s quite useful if you know the aperture you want in the end vs. the aperture before scraping.