OK… I made a really nice reed I’m happy with … after much blood, sweat, and tears. Do any of you make backup reeds for yourself? I’m feeling like I’m on a roll reed-making-wise … I also wonder if the thing lasts, say years (as GHB piper, I still find that hard to fathom) I’ll forget how to make a good one…
What’s the best way to store reeds?
Dave Jones
wish i new where to begin making one dave 
I make my own chanter reeds. When my regs are finished and in my possession, I will make their reeds also. I store my reeds in containers that are pretty durable… but, I take them out and play them every now and then to keep them healthy.
Yes, once you have one working reed, make another one. That way, you have a back up in case something goes wrong with the first one…if nothing else, it is a learning experience and you can tweak one without worrying that you will be ‘reedless’.
-gary
You could make a movie: “Reedless in Seattle” 
djm
jes could you send me anything you consider helpfull on reedmaking that you may have, to help me get going
I have just started reed making or piping for that matter, 3months. I am on reed number four and tune number three. They all play within a few cents of OK ish!!!
I am a tool maker with lots of tools but I think any practical person should have a go. You do not need expensive gouges or gouge blocks right away. I use 82mm dia. beer bottles and a lot of emery cloth rubbing.
look at these sites:- http://www.hartdd.com/reedmaking/\
and : http://www.uilleann.com/reeds.html\
There are others but these two guys know their stuff.
Each reed I make is numbered and their vital statistics (dimensions) are logged. so should be reproduceable . Allowing for variations in cane etc.
If you go to the two sites and print out both sets of the instructions you can keep them even if the sites disappear.
I am having a lot of fun making reeds whereas the piping is becoming a struggle. I am more mechanical than musical. BUT hey I’m a piper right.
Good Luck.
Hello Albert, send me a PM and in it let me know what you would like to know. Somebody you really ought to be talking to is Alan Burton, or Pat Sky, both visit this forum frequently, and both are brilliant reed makers.
That’s excellent!!
I’m still struggling with the reeds. I use 2 7/8" and 1 5/8" PVC pipe as sanding blocks, a reground #6 gouge and 400 & 600 wet/dry sandpaper. I’ve made staples and gouged/sanded slips, but so far they all crack when I tie them. Ho-hum!!
For the time being, I’m playing a reed made by upiper1971. As Homer says - “Sweeeettttt. Aaaagggghhh!!!”. I also use a reed made by Nick Whitmer. It’s a little louder so I use it whenever I play outdoors.
Try taking a little more off the inner surface of the tails if they’re cracking when you bind them up. Also, chamfer the edges about an inch up from the tail tips to ease the stresses from tying. It’s the bark that will generally cause the splitting, not the pith itself. So if you remove some of that, it should help to ease your tying up troubles.
If the tails are cracking it may be that your cane is very stiff. I got mine directly from Medir in Spain. I rubbed the slips down to a thickness of 1.2mm - 1.4mm along the centreline of the slip. Some soak the cane in ‘neatsfoot oil’ but i have not tried that yet.
The reason for making 4 or 5 at a time is to stop the fiddling with only one. as number 1 got closer to OK i got scared of ruining my first effort, by the time number 5 comes along i can afford to ruin one at the last minute without getting too upset about it.
I am still having trouble with my reeds needing a lot of air through them to sound. I get concerned as they get thinner because you cannot put a bit back once it has gone.
But you can re-use the staple and bridle and wrapping hemp.
i would recommend a cheap digital vernier caliper for measuring, you don’t need an expensive one £60 ($110) I have a £12 one ($16) and find it OK for reed meaurments.
[b]That’s excellent!!
I’m still struggling with the reeds. I use 2 7/8" and 1 5/8" PVC pipe as sanding blocks, a reground #6 gouge and 400 & 600 wet/dry sandpaper. I’ve made staples and gouged/sanded slips, but so far they all crack when I tie them. Ho-hum!!
For the time being, I’m playing a reed made by upiper1971. As Homer says - “Sweeeettttt. Aaaagggghhh!!!”. I also use a reed made by Nick Whitmer. It’s a little louder so I use it whenever I play outdoors.[/quote][/b]
Patrick,
Are you having trouble when tying the head down to the staple? If you are..you may be tying it down to tightly or the seat at the tails maybe too thin..anyways gimme a shout and i’ll send ya some pics in progression, or a nice simple phone call will do to help ya along.
upiper71[quote][/quote]
For Cracking during tie-on of the blades to the staple, the Oboe reed makers merely soak the blades in WATER for a few minutes before exerting any pressure from binding the reed head onto the staple. In 1976, as a guest of Bill Ochs, at his apartment in N.Y.C., Bill introduced me to the fine art of steaming the reed blades, just as they were held in position on the staple with a few windings of thread, and then put into the jet of STEAM ( be careful not to burn your fingers), from a tea kettle. I have done this over the years, on alot of different chanter reeds, I find that the water evaporates quickly and the heat bends the cane neatly around the staple with less pressure and very few cracks, if any. I have noticed that the cane looses its curl, just as hair does, after a while, “steamed reeds” go dead more quickly.
CLIMATIC CHANGES do the same thing over time. Race you to the finish, MOTHER NATURE! Sean Folsom
I carve out the v (like a diamond) with a knife before I tie the slips on so the slips will be more flexible as recommended by Tim Britton, and I never have a problem with cracking.. Before I did this step I would occasionally have cracking problems…
I have gouged out the reed tails as well, when I needed to, but then there was less leverage or pressure on the tip of the blades, to stay closed(the inserted staple being the fulcrum, or wedge). I noticed that the blades tend to open up under certain circumstances, like on the East Coast, in winter, with the steam heat from the old radiators. The reeds open up like blooming flowers…other factors weigh in,surely. In fact,they ALWAYS DO!
For instance,this can also happen in combination with slips of cane that are from the part of the raw tube of cane that are convex ( pieces that have an upward bend, when the slip is laid on a flat surface) it doesn’t have to be much of a curve either. This is also exerbated by hard cane…
I always try to have perfect flat slips, but depending on need, I have used concave curved slips, running the risk of the sides of the reed head opening up, but with the pressure from the ungouged tails, this "less than perfect"effect is minimized.
Do what you like, of course, it’s just different styles, and each factor is never isolated, which makes reed making an unpredictable, mind over matter,ART.
Good luck to all! Sean Folsom