Hey

In my studio I have a short/long bookshelf that my students use to rest their cases and reeds/reed cups during lessons. On that shelf I put a vase and have been collecting student staples since October 2024. Two weeks ago at a lesson, a beginner asked me why I put reeds into the vase and I explained that they’re reeds from students so I can harvest and reuse the staples.

Reusing staples

I first started reusing staples as a poor college student. During Freshman year I transitioned from exclusively purchasing my reeds from a music store (yes, they were Jones and Emerald reeds that my teacher helped me adjust) to reeds I’d made and my teacher scraped for me. Those first few lessons were full of frustration from my teacher and me because I couldn’t tie a reed well, and my knife skills were… less than great… But I needed reeds to play on, so I muddled through somehow.

One of the few things I could do to lower the cost of reed supplies (which I ordered by phone from Midwest Musical Imports) was to reuse the staples that I had. I think my high school teacher had me purchase 5 or 10 Rigotti brass 47 mm staples, and those, plus any that survived from my Jones/Emerald reeds were my go-to setup for a few years.

Fast forward to now, I have a stash of old staples that I bought at some point but don’t use because I don’t like them anymore and 15-20 of the 2-3 brands that I really like. It’s enough that I can do staple/shape/cane trials for myself and hopefully come to some conclusion about which I’ll stick with. One day. (That’s the dream, anyways, I keep changing something because I get curious, and I don’t have a current one-staple-always setup.)

I’m a huge fan of reusing staples because the nice ones are not inexpensive! I believe the staples I’m using for myself range from $3.50-5.00 per staple. (The cost is because I use primarily silver staples) I try to keep them in good condition, and I can’t tell you how long they get used because I don’t number my staples, so I don’t have a way to track their age/when they were purchased.

In addition to reducing the cost of a reed, I want to sound consistent. If I can get a good result from certain staples, I’ll return to them to achieve that good result again and again.

What I look for in staples to reuse

• The shape of the staple’s opening: a regular oval which fits snugly on my mandrel is super important. In lower-cost synthetic cork staples, and even some of the more popular brands (I’m looking at you Rigotti), the opening of the staple isn’t consistently an even oval. There are often squashed spots making one side of the oval bigger than the other. Or sometimes the opening isn’t an oval at all, it’s perfectly round! This is SUPER common with the cheap student staples that many reedmakers use. The inconsistent shape of the opening makes it difficult to properly center the cane on the reed, which can affect ones’ ability to tie a reed that seals properly or vibrates well. I will occasionally bend a student staple into a better shape and use it, especially the perfectly round ones, because shaping it to my mandrel isn’t that hard with the soft brass these staples are usually made of.
• How the staple fits on my mandrel: The metal of staples can stretch over time, changing the fit on the mandrel. As the top widens, it can be difficult to get narrow shaped cane to seal properly when tying, so if a staple gets stretched too much, I won’t use it.
• The condition of the cork/”O” ring: Over time the cork on staples can wear out (get too loose), or peel off the top (making it difficult to remove from the well). Staples with “O” rings can lose the O rings or experience wear on the plastic making the fit not snug in the well. I have been known to super glue cork back onto the staple, but this only works up to a point - once I’ve super glued the entire circumference of the staple to make it through the reed’s life, it’s probably time to retire the staple. Similarly if the cork becomes so compressed that it slides too easily into the well, I usually discard it.

These are the staples that I’m currently using:

For myself:

• ​Jennet Ingle (JIR Custom) 47 mm (silver): the openings are consistent. They’re a slightly thicker wall, so I need to finish the reed more or they’ll feel too hard. BUT they have a consistently dark sound even when the reed is thinner and you’d expect it to be too bright.
• ​Chiarugi 2 47mm silver: I love that the openings are SO consistent! I also find that the thin walls match my Innoledy gouge really well - I can under-finish a reed without it feeling too hard because the thinner walled staples really sing.
• ​RDG Type 2 47mm silver: These were my go-to before I found the Chiarugi staples. They’re a similar thin wall and tend to have a very consistent opening, even if I don’t hand-select them.
• ​Loree AK 47 mm silver: These are very similar to the above choices, they were my go-to before I bought my Howarth oboe - they match the AK bore that I had on my Royale and I loved the ease of finishing and playing. They have very consistent openings.
• ​Chudnow E 47mm silver: I have exactly two of these staples and I go back and forth between whether I like them or not. They’re just like the Chiarugi 2 47mm, but the jump rings/excavated bottom can make them more bright. I haven’t decided if I’ll keep using these or not. (As I was looking at the links, I think I have one of each nickel silver and silver plate! They look different!)
• ​Chiarugi and Chudnow E and S 47mm brass: I have a bunch of these that I bought like 10 years ago and I thought I’d try them to see what I think now. I don’t know yet, but I have a few reeds in my case on these staples.

For reedmaking classes and reeds I sell:

• ​RDG-USA synthetic cork 47mm: I LOVE these staples for beginning reedmakers. The openings are very consistent, I haven’t had any issues with needing to re-shape them ever. They have a smaller opening, so fit snugly on the mandrel and are easy for beginners to tie a reed onto that seals properly. The one downside is that the bottom of the composite cork tends to be a bit ragged, like it wasn’t sanded down fully during the manufacturing process. I haven’t had a lot of staples returned, so I can’t say how they do for recycling, but I have a suspicion that they won’t last as long because the cork will be damaged more quickly over time.
• ​Chiarugi 2 47mm brass: I love these staples, the opening is a hair bigger than the RDG so they vibrate slightly more generously. I haven’t used these very much as I didn’t have a huge stockpile of them like I did the RDG, but I’m currently testing to see if I like these better than the RDG-USA for reeds I sell.
• ​Jennet Ingle Synthetic 47mm (brass): I haven’t tried these yet, but I have a bag of 25 that I got at the IDRS Conference in June that I’ll be putting to use soon to see how they fare as compared to the other two options listed above.

Do you reuse your staples? What brand do you prefer and why?

Until next week,

Alli

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