Wednesday, March 5, 2008.1:52 PM
Newest batch of reeds!
These 6 new reeds I made (from the last remaining stock of reed blanks). All appear satisfactory other than for 2 whose blades don't really meet perfectly. This time round, I had taken extra care to make sure the line I cut in the centre of the blade is straight - marking the centre line and bending the reed blank over the edge of a knife. Otherwise, your reed might have this kind of opening after it's cut open... (( or )) :cThis is about the most important/difficult step from my experience, since this line will determine whether both blades of your reed will meet perfectly. If they do, you'll have a well-balanced reed to start with. If not, you'll have a hard time trying to adjust a badly-formed reed. Bending the reed blank over a knife reduces that possibility of making a badly-formed reed by 60% as compared to the method of using the knife to mark a straight and fine 'cut', which almost always ends up with a smiley )) , sad (( or confused S reed.
Side-view. Trying to show what I mean by blades which meet perfectly and those which don't. However, pics taken by a 3.2megapix camera apparently cannot make it. 
Top-view. There are only 2 reeds here which have slightly smiley mouths...again camera cannot make it. 
.:. 0C o m m e n t s.:.