Reed makers, and budding reed makers alike:
I special ordered a German gouge for Michael Dow. It just arrived today , the 27th of Sept. and I realized that it was the same gouge I already ownded, just a little wider! UGH! There’s no need to have 2 of the same sweep.
This is a #4 sweep which is what reed guru Dave Hegarty recommends. It is unused and professionally sharpened by Michael Dow.
$65 which includes shipping in the US. Outside the US shipping will be a bit more.
contact me at
Look closer and you will see that #4 sweep gouges in different widths have different curvature. In that respect as well as widths, your gouges should still be different. (What width is the gouge you got from Michael?)
For that reason, I think when specifying gouges for reedmaking, one needs to specify both sweep and width, in order to get the appropriate curvature.
FWIW my preference these days is for the custom sweep gouge (stamped “CS1” but definitely not a #1 sweep) sold by NPU (I believe it was Cillian O’Brien who put together the spec for this gouge and got Ashley Iles to make a run of them).
Bill
18mm and it was specified.
Like I said; I do not need 2 gouges that are virtually the same.
This a great gouge. If anyone wants to make a reasonable offer. please email me at: