Bassoon Reed Making

Blanks: two made with the boiling method and three with the rubber-band method (I don't really know what it's called)

A small part of my reed making tools and canes: gauged and shaped cane, gauged, shaped, and profiled cane, knife, mandrel, pliers, brass wire, cutting block, thread, and easel

Wrapped reeds, but not finished yet!  There's still cutting the tip off, scraping, crowing and playing on the reed, then cut tip of again, redo everything, and finally give up and smash it against the sharp corner of a music stand!  What a depressing process!  I mean, I sometimes make reeds that work...

I have been working on reed making last week and this week.  It is a very refined and complicated activity.  And for me, it is extremely time consuming.  Most of my non-music friends get really confused when I mention my reed making, so I thought I'd show some pictures of my endeavors.