Smallpipe Chanter Reeds

I took apart a fireside reed tonight to see what was going on under the wrapper. I took the dimensions and made a reed that sounds quite well compared to the fireside reed. I used flat stock styrene .015 and sanded it from side to side as plastic reeds are done. Next I'm going to wrap the blades around a curved object and dip them in boiling water to create a curve in the blade. I had to bend the curve by hand on the one I just made and that's not how it should be. If I can get the curve right then I should be able to produce reeds just as good as fireside reeds. I'll get specs and list them the next time I do it. Seth

Hey Seth,
How goes the smallpipe drone reed making? They looked great in the picture I saw but how do they sound? Ive used the Colin Ross book for smallpipe reed making, its very comprehensive. It is an nsp book but covers all ssp reeds as well. He also covers artificial drone reeds for ssp and nsp.

Cheers
Bob

Bob Salter wrote:Hey Seth,
How goes the smallpipe drone reed making? They looked great in the picture I saw but how do they sound? Ive used the Colin Ross book for smallpipe reed making, its very comprehensive. It is an nsp book but covers all ssp reeds as well. He also covers artificial drone reeds for ssp and nsp.

Cheers
Bob

They sound great, I have a lot of folks trying these reeds in the most commonly mass produced sets, so I hope to hear back soon. So far I know they work well in Gibson smallpipes and my own smallpipes, but I have no doubt that they are going to work fine in most makes. Only downside is they are approx 7/16" diameter o.d. so they will not fit in a stock that has a bore smaller than 9/16"

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Made a C-natural reed today. Click on picture for slideshow.

Hi Seth,

I need to ask you, if the plastic is a hard one, as PS. Or if it's more like PP.

Furthermore I want to know. How much is the curve? Did you use a beer bottle?

For making reeds I usually use butter milk containers and containers of yogurt about 500 ml for reed with a blade, that is 12mm wide. For less wide I use the 250ml containers, that is why they have a better curve.

I am sorry for my bad English.

Greetings from Germany

ahcdefg wrote:Hi Seth,

I need to ask you, if the plastic is a hard one, as PS. Or if it's more like PP.

Furthermore I want to know. How much is the curve? Did you use a beer bottle?

For making reeds I usually use butter milk containers and containers of yogurt about 500 ml for reed with a blade, that is 12mm wide. For less wide I use the 250ml containers, that is why they have a better curve.

I am sorry for my bad English.

Greetings from Germany

I don't know what PS or PP is. I used .015 styrene flat plastic sheeting. I wrap the plastic around a piece of 1.5" aluminum tube and then wrap a piece of thin brass over that and put it in hot, almost boiling water. I then let it cool and removed the wrap and I have a curved piece to work with. Seth

texasbagpiper wrote:
I don't know what PS or PP is.

PS = Polystyrene
PP = Polypropylene

Cheers.

texasbagpiper wrote:

I don't know what PS or PP is. I used .015 styrene flat plastic sheeting. I wrap the plastic around a piece of 1.5" aluminum tube and then wrap a piece of thin brass over that and put it in hot, almost boiling water. I then let it cool and removed the wrap and I have a curved piece to work with. Seth

Hi
Thank you for your answer.
I really need to give it a try. My reeds are not working well as they should in my Smallpipechanter.
The upper hand is to flat and for being in tune, I have to push the pitch to 468Hz.
So you gave me a good hint, what is the problem like. The diameter of a 250ml container is bigger then your piece of 1.5" pipe and it is conical. For this reason there is too less space between the blades.

I am crazy on knowing the dimensions of your reed. Would you be so kind to help me with the extensions for a reed supporting the key of A (445 Hz) or B (468 Hz), please?

Thanks for your help!
Kai

Hi everyone!

I've started ssp reedmaking a couple of weeks ago. Mainly, I stick to Colin Ross's reedmaking book. The only things I've changed are the reed dimension (I have a Garvie ssp). Everythings works very well, except that I have difficulties with the airtightness. Some of my reeds leak just above the bridle position. Have you ever had similar problems? I've tried to get to the bottom of the problem but until now I'm not any closer.

Thanks

Eric

Hi!

Eventually, I've discovered the problem concerning my leaking reeds. The radius of my gouge is to wide. Consequently, the thickness of the slip was slightly to thick in the middle and therefore not flexible enough to bend around the staple properly. My workaround so far is that I scrape the slip over the total length on the outside foucusing mainly on the middle part to get an even thickness of about 0.6mm.

Eric