Anyone own and use the Ashley Iles gouge made to C O’B’s specs that NPU was/is selling? How is it?
I have one of these. NPU doesn’t tell you, but it is a #3 incannel gouge, which is relatively shallow. A #6 is preferable. The #3 takes a bit longer to gouge the cane out, and it is not as close to the final gouge you would want.
If you use the sanding method of finishing the inner curve of the slip, it means more sanding. If you use the scraping method to finish the inner curve of your slip, it means more scraping.
Also, some people base the arc of their slip measurements on an outer diameter of the cane being 1" and the inner surface of the slip based on a circle with a diameter of 2.5". However, my pipemaker has warned me that this is too shallow, and tends to collapse in my climate. He advises the circle diameter for the inner surface of the slip to be 2", which is more closely achieved using a #6 gouge.
djm
Thanks. Who’s your maker?
Joe Kennedy.
djm
Oh, for the love of God…
Get a room you two!!!
I get good results with 7/8"-1" cane using a sanding cylinder of 2.57" (it’s a marble rolling pin) for my Hillmann D chanter (which takes the largest reed I have seen in a D UP) and a (using 7/8" tubes) 1.95" cylinder for my C reeds.
I use a wide (1") #6 sweep gauge for both reeds. I gouge until the edges of the slip have “just a bit” too much meat on the edges, then sand down until they have just enough, ignoring the centerline measurement that most reedmaking methods talk about.
Twist the slip when you think it is sanded enough and feel how it bends springs back so you can get your finger feeling into the reedmaking mix. You should remember how the successful ones felt.
FancyP, you are living in one of the most permanently humid States I’ve ever visited. That may be why the shallower arc works for you. If you lived in an area where the humidity goes down to 0 - 20% half the year you may find those measures don’t work any longer.
djm
I was talking with Cillian today, and he still reckons he’s with the #4 gouge, but whatever you will I guess. He was talking about the old method of damping the slip after an initial rough sanding. I think this has been touched on before in other threads, but the idea is to raise the “hair” and then smooth it down, so you get a finish that is less likely to over react to humidity.
Another thing about gouges, and this is nitpicking if not anal, the cannell (sp) is graded by the outside curve, and the actual incannel (sp) varies from gouge to gouge and this can have an effect to good or bad. I’ve noticed that I may have a run of 5 or 6 good reeds, then sharpen the gouge and it takes 2 or 3 to adjust to the new cut of the blade. But I can’t definitely put that down to the gouge. There are good cane days and bad cane days etc.,
Alan
Methinks you haven’t spent a winter up here in the Alleghany mountains. To get any humidity in the winter, I have to continually boil water.
At the gig Sat night, the air in the coffee shop was so dry, neither one of the reeds I had tuned up before in the living room would play. One would “almost” play right when I tuned up at the gig site, but when I tried the first tune it was all squawks and gurgles. 
True, I haven’t been to the Alleghanies, but then, I can’t play Duelling Banjoes, either. 
I’ve only been to Raleigh/Durham, and even when it wasn’t hot there, it was always dripping with humidity. I couldn’t believe the giant fans all over the golf courses trying to dry them out enough for a game.
Anyway, I only mentioned changing to the 2" arc as a possibility for people who may have trouble getting a reed to last in low-humidity areas, as suggested to me by Joe Kennedy. He’s always experimenting with this stuff, so if it helps someone’s reeds, that’s great.
djm
I think I accidentally gouged Cillian O’Brian once… that is what we’re taking about, right?
Mark
(I soooo confused…)