I spent a good amount of time today sorting cane. I hate sorting cane. It’s a waste of time, and I can’t wait to set up my business so I can hire other students to do it for me.
I found out today that if I concentrate on what I’m doing, I can sort about 1 piece of pregouged and guillotined cane per minute. I did it for about an hour, so I had about 60 pieces of cane.
I worked a lot with the Opus 1 gouger that I got back from Mr. Driscoll. His new cantilever system is a bit more complicated, but works well. It’s still very friendly in terms of adjusting, once you get used to it.
When I received it, it was gouging a bit thin for me. .58 in the middle, and a bit thick on the sides. I beefed it up to .61 in the center, adjusted the amount of blade showing so I didn’t have to push quite as hard to gouge, and thinned the sides just a little bit. On my normal Graf, I would expect certain results, but they did not feel “right” when I folded the cane over my finger. However, the current settings are good, and I’m satisfied with where they are now.
I’m not sure I’m personally fond of the blade curve, however I think most of my reed clients will be. It’s certainly a more “covered” sound, opposed to my preference of a more “pure” sound. A lot of people tell me they’re looking for “covered” and “dark”, and this blade certainly produces such results. I made several reeds, but the last one was clearly the best; a bit “bigger” than my own preference, with “covered” and “dark” sound. I think it’s very Mackish, which it should be, considering it is a Mack blade copy from the early 80s.
Since I still don’t have my desk, I’m kind of going a bit nuts. I’ve been forced to take over my dining room table, which is pretty messy now. It’s a good thing I have a patient wife who’s willing to eat on the living room floor with me.
