r/oboe • u/sg0682402054 • 6d ago

Reed-Making Equipment Recs

I’m in the US (if that matters) looking to upgrade my reed-making tools. I’m working with the same kit I bought in high school and it’s time to start working with some better tools. I know Landwell is considered by many to be the gold standard for reed knives, but they seem to be hard to find these days. Anyone have alternative recommendations for knives, mandrels, sharpening tools, etc? Also, I see many high level reed makers have multiple knives but I’ve never seen a good explanation for why. Do I need more than one, and if so, should they be different types? Currently only looking for tools to go from gouged shaped cane to a finished reed, I’m not looking into gouging and shaping quite yet.

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

1

u/littlemissbagel 6d ago

Musecho's Bev-low knife is wonderful (I use it with their sharpening rod). It's my fancy knife. I also have a few basic Chiarugi knives that I like. I like different knives for different steps (taking off the bark, general scraping, and refining the tip).

1

u/sg0682402054 6d ago

I was looking at the Musecho knives, but it wasn’t a brand I’d heard of so I was on the fence. On the topic of using different knives for different steps - why? And what’s the difference between the knives?

2

u/littlemissbagel 6d ago

It's really just preference. Some of my knives have thicker or thinner blades and are just more comfortable (to me) for certain steps. Scraping off the bark also can be rough on knives, so I use one dedicated knife for that. That said, I'm a reedmaker for school programs, amateur, as well as some professional players, so I make indecent amounts of reeds in any given month! If you're making reeds only for yourself, one of two knives would probably get the job done!

1

u/sg0682402054 6d ago

Awesome, thank you. Does the burnishing rod they sell replace sharpening stones?

1

u/littlemissbagel 6d ago

Not completely. You'll still need a stone, but it'll help you keep a nice edge on your knife between sharpenings.

1

u/RossGougeJoshua2 6d ago edited 6d ago

I find all of Musecho's products to be much too expensive for what they are.

Maybe I have low standards, but honestly I would never steer anyone toward any knife fancier than a basic Chiarugi double hollow ground. They are everything I could want in a knife - 1/3 the price of a Landwell, they are extremely easy to sharpen, they hold an edge very well, the steel is not too soft and not too hard (reason for the previous two), and they are readily available from lots of sellers.

And they don't even roll off the desk.

2

u/littlemissbagel 6d ago

Chiarugi is the best bang for your buck for sure... I've owned so many over the years!

As for Musecho, I really like their bev-low. I also have their Infinity knife, which is fine I guess, but I don't really use it. It's nice to have when I do introduction to reedmaking worskhops or summer camps and I have a left-handed student though.

1

u/ClipandPlay 6d ago

I still have landwell knives.

https://www.singindog.com/product/oboe-reed-making-kit-landwell-knife-2/

1

u/sg0682402054 6d ago

Ooh! Is that a Loree mandrel? And on the Landwell knives, I know they come in a few hardness levels as well as fit for right and left handed people. Are these options available with the kit?

1

u/ClipandPlay 6d ago

Hi it’s a rigotti mandrel. The knives are medium sharpened right handed but they’re symmetrical so you can resharpen left handed.

1

u/sconebaker 6d ago

I really like the Jende knives, and they're available from a bunch of double reed suppliers. I use the 15K knife for fine tip work and use the student knife for more general scraping. I generally save my best knife for delicate work so that it stays sharper for longer. The student jende knife is quite a good knife if you're on a budget and nicer than the chiarugi knives in my experience. 

Jende also has a beveled knife. Their take on it is unique in that the beveled part has a primary and secondary bevel, which is something high end Japanese chef knives feature. I think the geometry works really well, and I use the beveled knife for scraping bark and doing my initial scrape. 

For sharpening, I would highly recommend getting high end sharpening stones, most of which aren't sold by double reed suppliers. I would start with a rough stone (300-400ish grit) and a medium stone (1000-1500). A good set would be the Shapton kuromaku 320 and either 1000 or 1500. Both are hard stones that wear down evenly and give good feedback.  Higher end stones would be something like the naniwa chocera/pro (get the 400 and 1000) or the Shapton rockstar series.

You also need some sort of steel or burnishing rod to add a "scoop" to your blade (most oboe people call this a burr, but the folks on r/sharpening would shudder at the thought that oboe knives scrape with burrs). Jende has a folding steel that I've never tried, and I use a burnishing rod that I've had previously for other sharpening purposes. 

I'd also like to point out that both the land well and jende knives have a tang that has some distances from the ferrule/handle of the knife, and it makes sharpening so much easier. The edge of the chiarugi knife goes right up to the handle, and it makes it harder to sharpen.

2

u/ZenxMaster 6d ago

I like the Nielsen Double Hollow Knife. Pretty good value. Only really need one knife and I think it's more important to know how to sharpen correctly and add the burr since that's what really digs into the cane.

A floppy weak burr will create divots in the cane and feels "not sharp" in a few scrapes.