So it’s been going really well with this reed making attempt,I sanded the slip just right ,I’ve tied it onto the staple without cracking and it looks really neat.All I’ve got to do is put a nice scrape on it and in no time I’ll be sounding like Liam O’Flynn.
So I start at the bottom of the scrape with my super sharp opinal knife ,slowly working up the reed ,just alittle bit more off the side,thats it ,that it, #%^;.%@ it, OH Nooooo, you stupid swine herder,your mother is a blip, blip ,blip.
The knife just dug in for some reason and the cut went off to far to the side and the reed is ruined,this has happened a few times now and its so frustrating.
Can you recommend a safer method,or how do you(step by step) form the scrape ?
It’s blade is thinner and also extremely sharp (and the knife is made from metal completely without moving blades or so, so it can be used very precisely). As soon as things get serious (i.e. the reed starts to crow, sometimes even earlier), I use my sanding block and fine sand paper. I have way more control this way.
The way how you lead the knife is very important for the control of it: Put the thumb against the “lip” of the blades and lead the knife against the thumb. Those who are afraid might wear an old leather glove - especially those who can´t see blood
Never try to “prepare the scrape” in one stroke of the knife but always take off several small chippings.
Always use a very sharp knife. You get a much, much better control. (Most) accidents happen with fairly blunt knives only.
BTW, I didn´t find using “carpet knives” for this job so good an idea. You need a fairly long blade and apply the knife-blade´s lever while doing the strokes. A carpet-knifes thin blade might bend or break off too easily.
I find that a scalpel blade and a single edge razor blade works the best for me.The scalpel has a curve which can help avoid too much bark removal. I got some from my DR. I use them without handles, holding the blade between thumb and forefinger.
I only use a blade on the scrape for precision adjustment (ex. the bottom of the V). I usually start the scrape using 100 grit sand paper until the V is well formed. Then I take it down to 320 grit until I get the beginnings of a crow. After that I use 600 grit to finish it off. It gives me more control in forming the 2nd V and allows me to get the lips nice and thin.
PJ, I use to strive towards thin lips but now I like them fairly thick. I started making them thicker through my dealings with Nick Whitmer. I find I can make thick lipped reeds that play very easy, they just take a little longer to blow in but seem more stable in the long run. Just how I developed I guess, there are so many subtle ways to make a good reed.
I don’t sand until the very end of my scrapings..
Recently I have been trying Cillian O’Brians method of starting the scrape with an out-cannel gouge on a curved block the same diam. as the sanding block before tying the reed head together for binding.Just cut a thin slice of cane at the centre from the bottom of the v to the lips,then bind the head.After that I basically use the same method as PJ.
In Dave Hegarty’s book he mentions that Dan O’Dowd would begin the scrape BEFORE cutting the cane in two to form the slips. It would certainly help avoid the problem that Rory mentions above.
the reason I tie mine before I scrape is that I don’t have a dial micrometer and I found that torwards the middle of the slip it is usually thicker after sanding, so I cut it in half, mic it, sand each side seperatly until equal, then tie togather and scrape. I am happy with this method and have had a great success rate—so far
If I scraped first, I wouldn’t know what thickness I really had.
there are many ways to do the scrape. i think that bagpipeworks has i nice detailed way of getting the scrape which probably came from Peter Hunter originally. Of course, there’s no harm in perpetuating good ideas, so origin is unimportant. Benedict Koehler starts the scrape with a very sharp and thin blade. Sharp is not good enough alone…it must be thin or you will crack the reed. Tim Britton pre-scrapes while cane is still in slip form. Cillian O. (as per the instruction dvd) starts the scrape w/an out-canal gouge.
my best unsolicited advice is to try everything and over time, distill your experiences down to what works best for you, and discard what doesn’t work for you.
yes, I have a couple of them, they will take a good edge but I don’t find them suitable for reed making. I guess you could learn to use them that way though. they are an old style light weight knife kind of from another century, that’s why I like them, I eat apples in the woods with mine whilst hiking:)
Indeed. Its not just the reed you may damage. I had a little trip to the emergency room last year. Five stiches in my left pointer finger. I wasn’t able to play pipes for 2 weeks!!!
I have a boxcutter that I use. The stanley blades seem sharpest.
I start the scrape like Cillian Ó Briain does in the NPU video, I use regular #3 gouge.
The Opinel is a great knife and very suitable for certain operations; however I would agree that if you are starting the “scrape” with a knife it needs to be a thin-bladed one. Opinel would be great for scraping, later.
I don’t find any of the stanley-type knives sharp enough for anything in reedmaking, personally… but then again I like sharp tools.
There are many uses for knives in reedmaking, so it’s probably not sensible to declare a particular type of knife universally superior. For instance I use two kinds of knives, and sometimes three… and I don’t use a knife for starting the scrape (I use a sharp gouge or flat chisel, in the way Cillian was cited as doing, above).
For splitting cane tubes you want a nice thick knife, I use a short Mora swiss carving knife for that. I use that knife also for scraping the outside and similar general operations, where a stubby knife profile is useful for providing support. For chopping the ends and such, where a flat, super-sharp, thin blade is best, I use a straight-razor-style woodwind reedmaker’s knife. (You can get these for as little as $35 US or pay as much as $300, so shop around!) A (fresh, sharp!) single-edge razorblade is an OK substitute, as is a fresh scalpel blade with a flat profile.
A scalpel could serve both purposes, with two different blade profiles - the disposable blades are attractive and unlike box cutters and hobby knives they really are sharp. There’s a retractable-bladed scalpel available from Swann-Morton now that’s worth a try if money is tight… but keep your fingers out of the way!
I would love to use a knife for the entire scrape. I use some different knives for my reedmaking and keep them razor sharp. Sharpness and the right knife really seems the key. I do use my oboe knife to do some fine work on the scrape, but I still sand the majority of it. I have had the same problem Rory has had. I either destroy or crush the reed when I try to do the whole scrape with a knife. I know it is my lack of skill that is to blame. I remember watching Benedict make a reed and tried to pick his brain to improve my technique. The answer I got was practice. I also asked what knife he was using. Correct me if I am wrong I think he said it was a cobbler’s knife or something like that. It had a sheepsfoot type blade as described here -
Benedict uses a “shoe knife”, which was originally intended for cutting the soles from shoes, I believe. Usually considered a pretty poor knife, and not terribly good steel, but he keeps it razor sharp. It has a thin flexible blade.
The “sharp point knife” from Talas does actually look pretty good for this application. The “lifting knife” looks interesting too.
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