Is it true that when tying up reeds that the binding should not go past the staple ??
RORY
Yes, for the most part. You want the blades to be in the shape of the staple eye. Going beyond the staple too far when tying forces the two blades together more than they ought to go, and this will cause the sides to open and leak… in addition to creating tuning problems like there’s no tomorrow.
So how do you work it so that by the time you get to the end of the staple the blades have come together sufficiently to form a good seal? That has ben my dilemma for a while now, I end up having to bind at least 3-4mm past the end of the staple.
Cheers,
DavidG
I’d first check to see if the staple eye wasn’t too big. Then I’d check to see if the taper of the staple wasn’t too abrupt… by this, I mean that there is a gradual taper from roughly 20-23mm to the eye itself.
Another thing I have learned, and this I got from watching Benedict Koehler on the NPU video, is to insert the staple into the reed head to the point where it is easy to close the sides by slight pressure applied to the areas just above where the staple (eye) ends. When I find that spot, I insert the staple just a smidge further in… no more than .05mm at most. This aids in the reed sides being able to close without having to go beyond the eye while binding. In fact, the sides should start to close long before the binding gets to the eye. Like Benedict says, let the cane tell you what to do. He’s absolutely right… of course!
One last thing here, when tying, as you get nearer to the area of the eye, ease up on the cord pressure a mite. It is at this point where a lot of potentially good reeds meet their maker by splitting due to too much pressure when binding… once you have heard that subtle “crack”, all is lost. You can increase the pressure again (on the way back down) about where the shoulders of the reed head have disappeared into the shape of the staple itself.
I hope this makes sense and helps you out some.
Thanks Joseph. I’ll keep trying. Overall, I still have good success even with ‘overbinding’ but it would be nice to try and reduce the amount further.
I think your success rate may go up a bit by reducing your binding a bit. The blades of the reed want to be able to vibrate freely, to attain optimum tone and playability. Binding them too far restricts this action.
I tie, exactly 2mm past, the staple eye, 
no problems ever. 
A reasonable amount. Of course, these things vary from maker to maker.
I had this problem for a long time. I wasn’t sanding the inside of the slips enough. These days, I wrap a little 320 grit sand paper around an old cigar tube which has a 3/4" diameter and use it to take out a little more of the slip where the staple will sit. I’m not sure if this counts as a tone chamber but it’s probably close. Anyway, it helps me to get the slips to close tightly.
There are many different ways to approach the design of the tails, much of which is usually dictated by the design of the chanter one is reeding. Gouging or sanding down a tone chamber will certainly reduce the frequency of splitting, but you have to factor in at what cost to tone, and then make the necessary measurements.
Or you could do away with the tone chamber altogether and simply carve a snug seat for the staple… very similar to what the esteemed Mr. Britton has done to great success.
Or… you could leave the tails unmodified and alter your staple to achieve what you require… rolled staples work very well in this regard.
Or… or… look,
Nothing is really written in stone, and a lot of experimentation (IMHO) is not only recommended, but advisable when making these squeaky little buggers. Take your accumulated skill and knowledge and build, build, build. Making reeds is an ogoing learning experience, it never stops. The pay off is when you are able to consistently reed your own chanter using a variety of designs for blades and staples… oh, and keep detailed notes, you will be very happy you do.
I forgot to add that a really good (see must have IMO) manual on reed making is D. M. Quinn’s ‘The Piper’s Dispair’ 3rd edition. Great reed wisdom contained therein for the Uilleann Pipes and Northumbrian pipes.
He goes into good detail about the entire process of chanter, regulator, cane and synthetic drone reeds. I don’t know how I managed prior to owning it.
I own that edition. It is the holiest of holies. But seriously aside, it is very detailed and meticulous worth every penny.
D
If the blades were not closed by the time you have tied up to the staple could you not increase the tension of the tread to force them closed
RORY
Rory,
You could increase tension but I wouldn’t.
The fact that the blades are new (and also if we’re talking about) an older reed i.e. putting it back together, the blades couldn’t handle the stress and crack while binding. I typically do not wrap 2mm beyond the staple, I usualy mark the spot where the staple ends with a “sharpie” felt marker, so that a way, I’ll know when to stop the winding.
As long as the sides of the blades are uniform and fairly thinned (not all the way), they’ll close with consitent windings.
Are you using a winder, or hand tying your blades?
D Mc.
On this sides not closing topic, I generally have sides that don’t close fully when binding, but they always come good when the reed has been scraped and an bridle fitted (I’ve not once had leaky sides). I use a sanding cylinder of either 45 or 50mm, which creates quite a large aperature at the lips, so the reed needs quite a bit of closing with the bridle - This ensures tightly closed edges. To keep the edges from collapsing under the tight pressure, I make them about 0.4mm thick and sand the top corners a bit during final tuning to ensure that the corners of the lips will close when air is sucked through the reed.
On the height of binding issue, I have always gone for 2mm above the binding as I had believed that this was one of those steadfast rules when researching reed making on the internet a few years ago (It’s nice to see that this is not such a strict rule). Out of interest Joseph, what sort of tuning problems do you get when a reed is bound too far?
Cheers.
I have made U-pipe reeds with the binding exactly at the end of the staple, and I have made reeds that have binding 1/8th to 3/16ths past the staple end.
This “dead space” is what I’ve been calling a “sound box” for many years, and I have found that this “sound box” seems to give more stability to the bottom “D” (or any bell note, of whatever pitch) and lowers the end note’s pitch. In order to close the sides, I always come down the reed head with the TOP END binding, that keeps the blades together, as you attach the reed head to the staple. Thus, I am BINDING the reed head closed from 2 directions, UP from the staple, and DOWN, to the final line where the collar will sit after the binding is finished. I use moderate pressure on the reed head itself, and slightly stronger pressure from the staple end, as the binding always relaxes after tie-on.
To avoid splitting, I use: A. reed polishing, B. steaming the reed over a kettle, C. wetting the reed with water (or rubbing alcohol… P.M. Jimmy MacColl’s method on GHB chanter reeds, it dries out rapidly, compared to water) before tie-on. Method C is particularly useful, for that last thread of binding, ending at the same level with the staple end. This shallow (or perhaps non-existant)“sound box” is typical of Scots and French chanter reeds, and probably comes from OBOE reed making.
WATER really won’t hurt the reed, BUT you should only proceed with scraping and sanding, AFTER the reed head has dried out.
I use the polishing method with the best results to make a good chanter reed, in 1 hour or less, from start to finish, and the ONLY hang-up, can be the CANE itself! CANE is the BIG “X” factor, I can never tell, even with Thumb nail denting, tapping, specific gravity water dunking, etc. Please look for my previous posts for all the chit-chat about “polishing”. I don’t want to repeat all that info (OR DEFEND IT). Polishing is a viable way of preventing splits, before, during, and AFTER the reed is made.
REEDILLY YOURS ! SEAN FOLSOM