Hey Reader,

I had a fantastic time at the IDRS conference! I learned a lot from the presentations and masterclasses, and came away with some ideas of compositions to learn from the many amazing performances I attended.

One of the presentations was given by Graham Mackenzie who was a classmate of mine from DePaul. He’s designed a new sharpening jig which is designed to hold reed knives at consistent angles. He even has a version that can be assembled out of lego to lower the cost. While Graham’s solution isn’t in production, it was a very cool idea that mostly solves the problem of getting a good edge on a reed knife.

Graham’s presentation ties in with part of my last newsletter. I mentioned that one of my new favorite tools from the hardware store is a piece of pvc tubing to slide onto my knife to keep a more consistent angle as I sharpen, and I got some questions about that which I’ll address later in this newsletter.

Today I’m going to share with you descriptions of the steps I use, and a video that shows you how to do the steps I mention. While I didn’t make the video, I follow basically the same steps (with one or two differences you could easily accomplish as well.)

What makes a reed knife?

The most important quality of a reed knife is the burr on the scraping edge. It’s a microscopic fold on the edge of the knife that makes the knife grab onto the top layer of material and scrape it off across the reed. It’s hard to see the burr without a microscope, but you can feel it with your finger. The burr is folded in the direction you’ll use to scrape. I’m right handed, so the burrs on my knives point to the right and take cane off when the knife moves towards the right.

Comparatively, kitchen knives do not have a burr and are designed to cut in a downward motion.

Over time as you scrape with your reed knife, it becomes dull. The burr is so small that it can be affected by the cane and the plaque as you scrape, and it gets bent and irregular over time. When the burr is no longer in a consistent angle across the whole cutting edge, you’ll need to sharpen your knife to make sure it’s straight along the whole blade and to reestablish its scraping angle.

2-stroke sharpening

I use a 2-stroke sharpening method while working on my reeds. The first stroke flattens the burr to realign it so it’s facing a consistent direction. The second stroke sets the angle of the burr which I’ll then use to scrape my reeds.

Stroke One: Place the knife burr-side-down on a sharpening stone. Line up the knife so the entirety of the cutting edge is in contact with the stone. Put gentle pressure on the knife, and glide the knife back and forth to flatten the burr. Be sure to keep the cutting edge on the stone at all times!*

Stroke Two: Place the knife burr-side-up on the stone. Use the angle-guide of your choice to set the angle of your burr. Line up the knife so the whole cutting edge is in contact with the stone. Put gentle pressure on the knife, and glide the knife back and forth to flatten the burr. Be sure to keep the cutting edge on the stone at all times!*

*If you have a very small sharpening stone, this could be a challenge. I recommend purchasing a stone that’s at least 2”x 4” to allow the entire knife edge to be on the stone, even if you have to make more passes across the stone to effectively sharpen.

A caveat:

I was nearly done writing when I realized that I didn’t mention what kind of knives I use. I use Double Hollow Ground or Razor style knives. My current favorites are Nielsen and Chang double hollow ground. I also love Landwell Medium or Hard knives, and the current Chiarugi/Rigotti Razor knives are what I recommend for students. I can’t put an edge on a beveled knife to save my life, so if you’re a beveled knife user, my method probably isn’t the right one for you.

Angle guides

Angle guides are super useful because they help to set a more consistent angle for the burr each time you sharpen. There are many options that exist, I’m only going to mention the ones I’ve tried personally below.

I have used Dan Waldron’s 3-D printed angle guides with great success. The angle guides stay in one place on the stone and you need to hold the knife steady with your hands.

The hardware store DIY version is a small length of PVC tubing cut about the same length as the knife, then slid over the spine of the knife while doing this stroke. The advantage to this method is that the angle guide stays on your knife through the whole Stroke Two process.

You can also stack up 2 pennies to use as an angle guide. These would be placed similar to the Waldron angle guide on the stone and stay where you put them. If you’re really old-school, you eyeball the angle, but you also know that you get mixed results and your knife isn’t always consistently sharp.

A video to help with technique and visuals

I love this video, despite its length, because it clearly shows how to put a really nice edge on a reed knife. I use this technique specifically when my knives won’t hold their edge anymore with the simpler technique above. I find it too wet and messy to use on a day-to-day basis. It also removes more metal than my above technique, which I find makes my knives wear out faster than I would like. I typically use this method once a year or less (because I have a bunch of knives that I rotate between when they’re feeling too dull). I don’t find it important to invest in a high-cost honing steel, I have a travel one that I used to refine the edge when I re-ground my knives last weekend.

​https://youtu.be/ESjbX91j-tw?si=GEoBafXN9y5XY2nt​

In two weeks I’ll be back to address kinds of sharpening stones and rods.

Until next time,

Alli

Hey, Reader, Do you have any burning questions about playing oboe? Reply to this email and ask, and you might see the answer in the next newsletter!

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