|
|
|
| With this Web Site I am presenting my shaper/profiler
containing my latest solutions for producing consistent profiles in
the making of satisfactory bassoon reeds. Upon my entrance to the
Eastman School of Music as a student of Vincent Pezzi in 1933 my first
lesson began with reedmaking. Soon I came to realize that not every
reed was good and that there was a need for more knowledge of reed
making and much further development of reed making tools. For the
next thirty years my reed making was done by hand. The tools that
I used were common. I had a foldover shaper, placque, knives, files,
mandrels, reamers, and a chopping block. During the years that I was
making reeds completely with hand tools, I learned that the riddles
of good cane could not be solved or predicted and that hand trimming
reeds in a symmetrical pattern could not be done consistently. |
| In the nineteen forties I received a pamphlet issued
by Don Christlieb and it described his techniques of reedmaking according
to his measurements and his measuring tools. One of his tools was
his dial indicator and it was a major step towards measuring reeds
and symmetrical blade trimming. In 1952 I was presented with a double
barreled profiler made by Fred Pfeifer. From that time on I was making
attempts to develop a suitable cam pattern. However, the Pfeifer profiler
had many other shortcomings and in the late 1970’s I began to
try to eliminate the deficiencies. In 1981 my developments were recognized
with the granting of a patent on my improved profiler. I made 6 prototypes
and then began to perfect those shortcomings that my prototypes revealed. |
|
