What’s in a reed tool kit?
The wild world of knives and razor blades can be daunting for a beginning reed maker! This guide is meant to help any oboist who is shopping for a reed tool kit and curious about all the different tools out there.
Some reed tool suppliers will sell different tiers of reed kits. The more basic kits will often only include the tools necessary for reed adjustments. The more advanced kits include the tools of the basic kit, plus tools necessary for tying new reeds. These basic kits will be less expensive, but if you are planning on learning how to make your own reeds eventually, then it’s worth it to invest in more a more advanced kit and a complete set of tools up front.
The most necessary tools needed to begin scraping and clipping your own reeds are:
Knife
Knife sharpening system
Razor blades
Cutting block
Plaque
The tools that are often included in more advanced reed kits, which will be necessary later for tying your own reeds are:
Mandrel
Ruler
Staples
Shaped cane
Thread
Beeswax
Overview of Tools
Before we take a closer look at several reputable reed making kits available for purchase, here are brief descriptions of the functions of each tool.
KNIFE
All reed making kits come with a knife. There are several different types of knife used by reed makers, including bevelled and wedge knives, but the ones pictured here are double hallow ground knives. If you are left handed, be sure to buy a knife specifically made for left handed people!
KNIFE SHARPENING SYSTEM
You will not be able to scrape precisely with your knife if you don’t have a way to keep it sharp. While most reed kits come with a sharpening system, some of the “basic” kits do not include one. Knife sharpening systems include sharpening stones (e.g. Diamond stones or India stones), crock sticks, burnishing rods, or a combination of these! More detailed post on knife sharpening to come.
RAZOR BLADES
We use single edge razor blades to clip the tips of reeds. While these aren’t often included in reed making kits, they can be found fairly easily at any hardware store. I have found that the sharpest blades that give me the most precise control while clipping are GEM Stainless Steel razor blades.
CUTTING BLOCK
When clipping a reed, you’ll need a surface on which to clip. Most kits will come with a cutting block, and they come in different sizes and flatness. The one I have been using by Pisoni has a medium surface area and a rounded top. I have found that the rounded top helps me control my clips better than cutting blocks with flat tops.
PLAQUES
Plaques are inserted between the two blades of your reed to make it easier to scrape. There are many different plaques and philosophies, but I believe that the best plaques are thin and flat. I like my reeds to have very tight sides, and I have found that contoured plaques pry the sides open more than I like. Fox has a nice, standard, flat plaque that is sold at most double reed supply stores. If you want to adventure with an even thinner plaque, my former teacher Linda Strommen recently came out with her own very thin plaque sold by Harvard Double Reeds.
MANDREL
Mandrels are inserted into the bottom of the staple to give a better grip while tying reeds. Most reed making kits come with a mandrel, but the one pictured is from Loree, and is available from many double reed tool vendors.
RULER
Oboe reed making depends on incredibly precise measurements! When measuring length, we usually measure in millimeters or even half-millimeters. Not all reed kits come with rulers, but you can find them at double reed supply stores.
THREAD
Most reed kits come with a spool of thread for tying your first reeds. The kit from Midwest Musical Imports even lets you choose your own color! There are many different weights and materials of thread, but FF Nylon has become pretty standard. There is a plethora of thread vendors and, most importantly, colors available. A few favorites are Squirrely Stash and LC Double Reeds,
Where to buy reed tool kits
Many woodwind supply vendors will compile combinations of the tools featured about and sell them together as a tool kit. You will typically save money purchasing the tools as a bundle compared to buying everything separately.
As mentioned earlier, some of these vendors offer different tiers of tool kits. There are benefits to each! If you are just dabbling in reed making or reed adjustments, a more basic kit may have all the tools you need. If you are planning on learning to tie reeds from scratch, it may be worth it to invest in a more “advanced” kit and receive a bigger variety of tools, even if you don’t use all of them right away. If your teacher has favorite brands of each tool that they want you to use, it could be worth it to buy a basic kit at first and grow your tool collection as you go.
Below I have linked a few different vendors of reed tool kits. Each kit offers different combinations of different brands of tools. You can browse through the options to find the best kit for you.
Jennet Ingle - Ms. Ingle offers three tiers of tool kits: the Adjustment Kit, the Reedmaker’s Kit, and the Deluxe Kit. Each includes high quality tools - the same ones she uses herself!
RDG Woodwinds - RDG also offers three tiers of tool kits: the Oboe Tool Kit, the Beene Basic Tool Kit, and the RDG Premiere Oboe Tool Kit. They also sell empty cases for storing your tools.
Forrests - Forrests offers a basic and a standard tool kit. Each kit offers your choice of knife, along with a brief guide describing the differences between the knives.
Midwest Musical Imports - The MMI tool kit includes all the tools needed to begin tying reeds. They even let you choose your thread color!
Double or Nothing Reeds - Double or Nothing Reeds also offers three tiers of tool kits. Their middle tier is the kit used by students at the Southern Oboe Intensive. Their highest tier kit contains more tools than any other kit in this list.
While this certainly is not an exhaustive list of all the reed making tool kits out there, hopefully it gives you a place to start while shopping around.
Did I miss your favorite tools or tool kit? Let me know what tools you’ve had success with!