I am about to try (again) at making a reed or two. I’m wondering what you all think the slip should be thicknessed to at it’s centre.
I realise it can depend on cane hardness and the sort of tone you are after.
Books seem to give a guide of between 1 and 1.5mm.
Would a good starting point be 1.25mm and see what happens with the cane I’m using? (Having said that Evertjan 't Hart’s website shows 1.4mm for a Dave Williams chanter.)
Also if it has any relevence I am using cane tubes bought from Brian Howard.
Without too many caveats, what thickness are you tending to use now?
And finally, would you leave a reg reed slip thicker to get a mellower tone?
What you end up with is a function of cane tube diameter, slip width, the thickness you want at the edge of the slip (0.3mm works for me), and sanding cylinder diameter.
You can use my reedmaking calculator if you would like. This will help to produce repeatable slip sizes…however, as Benedict K says on the NPU Reedmaking DVD, you should “listen to the cane” as well. In otherwords, depending on the hardness or softness of that particular slip of cane, you may need to make it thinner (harder cane) or thicker (softer cane).
Hi David, I thought I’d just mention that Brian gets his cane from Medir, so it probably doesn’t have any relevance. He buys in bulk and has a lot in stock , so it is well seasoned. I use cane from him and aim for !.25 but I do vary this to achieve variety in tone. I am reaching the stage where I can tell from the feel of the slip better than measuring and I am happier that way ( a reflection of my personality, no doubt). Brian uses different staples for his reg reeds and not just in length. You’ll be able to have a close look at the next meeting and I recommend a VERY close look, they are unlike anything else I’ve seen ( and I’m engaged in an obsessive search). When I watched Dave Williams at last years Tionol he used an industrial plunge guage set to 1.5. It was a priviledge to have been there and to share a meal with him afterwards.I’m looking forward to the meeting and working at Wards Jig, kind regards, David
David, any slip thickness between 1.2mm-1.50mm should do, and a width of between 12.80mm-13.40mm should give a good result, I myself go for a slip thickness of 1.3mm and a width of 13.20-30mm, I prefer a slightly wider reed head, I think most reed makers go for a 1.40-50mm = 0.055’ slip thickness, and a slip width of 12.80-13.00mm = 0.504-0.511’ for the Concert D reed, best of luck with the reed making.
Thanks snoogie, teirw and reedman. All very useful advice and I will be basing decisions on what you have said. The reedmaking calculator is certainly an impressive device.
I have also found Nick Whitmer’s notes which appear in the current An Piobaire (and on an earlier thread here) also contain some useful information about slip dimensions used on the NPU DVD (which I will be purchasing soon).
My current Dave Williams reed is 12.8mm wide just above the binding so I will use that as a starting point on the width front.
With the thickness those 0.1mms seem to be very important and can be gone with a rub of sandpaper. Care will be taken and cane will be meeting brass soon.