ike milligan
2015-04-27 11:57:36 UTC
Up until the '30's as far as I can tell, reeds were mostly made entirely
by hand. Someone would mak a set of plates, on a known pattern similar
to organ reed sets, and the plate would bee laid on a sheet of fine
blued steel and the steel scribed with a line to match the slot.
Shears were then used to cut out the reed along the line and the reed
carefully fitted with a very small clearance by subsequent filing.
The reed would be clamped in a vise and tuned to the desired pitch
before being riveted into the plate, then polished while being further
fine-tuned, then again on the chamber.
Steve Navoyosky claims to know how to do it. In Russia someone is still
doing this. It requires a great deal of skill and experience to make
good reeds that way. Made like this, they look non-uniform.
On the contrary, reeds made with the aid of machines, seem to be made
from a template. There might be a large circular die on which to place
the blank reed steels and use this for a guide when abrasively machining
them.
I know very little about these processes; most of what I know is from
looking at the finished products and using them. All or nearly all the
newer reeds you see now, have been at least made with the aid of mass
production.
by hand. Someone would mak a set of plates, on a known pattern similar
to organ reed sets, and the plate would bee laid on a sheet of fine
blued steel and the steel scribed with a line to match the slot.
Shears were then used to cut out the reed along the line and the reed
carefully fitted with a very small clearance by subsequent filing.
The reed would be clamped in a vise and tuned to the desired pitch
before being riveted into the plate, then polished while being further
fine-tuned, then again on the chamber.
Steve Navoyosky claims to know how to do it. In Russia someone is still
doing this. It requires a great deal of skill and experience to make
good reeds that way. Made like this, they look non-uniform.
On the contrary, reeds made with the aid of machines, seem to be made
from a template. There might be a large circular die on which to place
the blank reed steels and use this for a guide when abrasively machining
them.
I know very little about these processes; most of what I know is from
looking at the finished products and using them. All or nearly all the
newer reeds you see now, have been at least made with the aid of mass
production.