Overview

My reedmaking process has four distinct phases: Cane preparation, Forming, Wrapping and Finishing. The part of cane preparation done by my machine is described in detail on the Reed Machine page. Cane from the machine requires a bit of hand work, including bevelling, a light cross score about 15mm from the butt end to prevent cracks from travelling up the tube, and cleaning up the ledge. Forming, wrapping and finishing have their own sections on this page (tabs above).

There are certain aspects of the forming and wrapping of reeds that I consider important, and these are listed below:

• Smooth cane inside the reed. I believe that if the inside of the reed is smooth, that response will be better and the sound will be clearer. My reedmaking methods allow for multiple sandings of the inside of the blade and tube sections. Of course, once the reed is made, you don't have any significant access to the inside, so if inside smoothness is a goal, this must be accomplished while the reed is being built.
• Letting the reeds dry on the forming mandrel. If reeds are allowed to dry on the forming mandrel, it is more likely that they will all be of consistent inside dimensions. If the inside dimensions yeilds a proper-sized tip opening, then less wire adjustment is needed and there is a better chance that the inside of the reed will remain structurally intact. Another benefit of mandrel-drying is that the wires do not need to force the tube into shape, and if desired, need not be as tight. The middle and blade wires are then free to act as an adjustable node point, rather than a constriction point.
• Installing wires on a dry reed. Installing a wire on a dry reed will reduce the amount that it digs into the bark. This adds to the wire's ability to function as a node point and makes the wire easier to move, if desired.

Forming

Forming is done in two stages, separated by a drying time of at least 8 hours, as follows:

Stage 1

• The prepared cane is soaked in water heated to 60C (140F), which is roughly the temperature of water from a hot water faucet. The usual soaking time is 90 minutes, but if any pieces sink in the water before that time, I start the next step on them before the 90 minutes is up.
• The gouge side, excluding the portion of the tube where the bocal penetrates, is sanded very lightly with #400 waterproof sandpaper. The goal is only to smooth the raised fibers from the soaking, and to keep from changing the dimensions of the gouge.
• The profile side of the blade is sanded with the same technique and goal as the gouge-side sanding.
• The tube is scored lengthwise, in two parts delineated by a crosswise score (hand work cane preparation) about 15mm from the butt end. The part starting at the butt end is scored with 9 knife strokes, fairly deeply, the last 2mm being all the way through the cane. The part up to the ledge is scored with 6 light knife strokes, with intention of symmetricity and avoidance of the centre-line.
• The cane is folded in half, then the tube section is wrapped tightly with butcher twine, leaving approximately 4mm exposed (unwrapped) at the butt end.
• The butt end is gently pried open with a small slotted (flat) screwdriver, just open to allow the end of the forming mandrel to enter. The forming mandrel is inserted about a third of the way, then the reed is allowed to sit for a minute or so. The mandrel is then inserted another third of the way. About 15mm of the butcher twine is unwrapped from the ledge back, and the scoring is evened up if necessary. The wrapping is then re-applied tightly, and the mandril is inserted all the way.
• The reed is allowed to dry on the forming mandrel for at least 8 hours.

Stage 2

• The forming mandrel and the butcher twine is removed and the blade of the reed only, is soaked in 60C water for about 30 seconds. If the cane fibers in the section of the tube where the bocal penetrates start to absorb water (by diffusion), then the soaking is stopped before the 30 seconds has elapsed. The purpose of this second soaking is to once again raise the cane fibers of the blade. This whole stage must happen quickly (within about 90 seconds) to prevent the tube section from unwarping.
• The blade section of the gouge side is sanded very lightly with #400 waterproof sandpaper. Once the raised fibers of the gouge side have been sanded twice (as in Stage 1 and Stage 2), a soaked reed will remain very smooth on the inside. (See my comments in the Overview section to see my opinion on the importance of this.)
• The reed is placed on (folded over) the forming mandrel and re-wrapped with the butcher twine. At this time, special care is taken to match up the edges of the tube section.
• The reed is allowed to dry on the forming mandrel for at least 8 hours.

Wrapping

• The forming mandrel and butcher twine are removed from the dry reed. The reed is opened up and the gouge-side tube section, excluding where to bocal penetrates, is sanded (dry) with #400 waterproof sandpaper. The edges of the tube are gently filed with a slim taper triangular file to clean up the bevel and allow the two halves of the reed to mate well. The bevel is full from the butt end to about the placement of the middle wire, then gradually tapers to nothing at the collar (start of the blade).
• From this point on, a mandrel is used that penetrates only about 4mm farther than the bocal does, with a step where the bocal ends, matching the bocal wall thickness. A small bit of parafin wax is placed on the inside of the reed right at the butt end. The reed is folded together over the mandrel such that the mandrel needs to penetrate about 6mm further to be in proper position. Waterproof adhesive tape is wrapped tightly around the tube, extending about 15mm from the butt end, such that the two reed halves are pulled completely together. This tape helps to keep the wrapping in place, even when a reed has dried out for months. The butt end wire is installed, but loosely and about 6mm further forward than it's proper place. The mandrel is then inserted to it's full insertion.
• Pliers are used to mash the area of bocal penetration, ensuring that the two halves of the reed fit together properly with no gaps and that this area of the reed will fit exactly on the bocal. The butt end wire is then slid into place, tightened, cut to length and folded forward onto the tube.
• The reed is wrapped with thread, then heat shrink tubing is shrunk over the wrapping. The reed then sits, mandrel installed, until the heat shrink tubing has completely cooled, usually about ten minutes
• The heat shrink tubing is trimmed, so that when the middle wire is installed in it's proper place, that it will abut exactly with the heat shrink tubing.
• The edges of the blade are lightly sanded to remove any overlap.
• The midlle and blade wires are installed.
• The reed is checked to see if reaming will be necessary, and if so, a reamer that only works in the area of bocal penetration is used. The majority of reeds need no reaming, and if they do, only a tiny bit of cane needs to be taken. (This is due to the ream being built into the gouge - see the Gouge Dimensions section of the Model Data page for details.)

Finishing

The finishing of my reeds, for the vast majority of them, is simply getting the blade length and the tip opening adjusted exactly right. I start by clipping the blank reed about 1mm longer than the expected blade length. The reed is then soaked in warm water for about one minute. If necessary the tip is opened. Sometimes, just crowing on the reed will give a clue as to whether or not the blade is too long. For most reeds, the blade will be obviously too long, and if so I clip about 0.5mm. Now I play on the reed, clipping and adjusting the wires as necessary. A small percentage of reeds will need some trimming and/or sanding. Most often only some sanding with #400 or a few strokes of the knife are necessary. Very occasionally, a hard piece of cane will necessitate more extensive trimming. Once the reed is adjusted to my satisfaction, it is set on a drying rack for a day, then retested. Upon retesting, there is usually only a small wire adjustment needed, if any.

For information about reed break-in and general suggestions about how to get the most from my reeds, please see the Usage Suggestions page.