What if my reed knife gets rusty?

All reed knives are made from tempered hardened steel, unlike most kitchen knives. While a steak knife or pocket knife blade, traditionally made of stainless steel, will not be affected by rust to any large degree, it is almost impossible to sharpen such a knife in any meaningful way.

All the knives we carry are specifically made to be resharpened by the reed maker about every ten minutes or so, as the process of reed making wears down the ultra-fine burr on the leading edge of the blade.

While this is all well and good, it also presents a problem: this kind of steel is prone to rust.

We ship knives with a thin coating of oil on them, and they are traditionally sharpened on an oil stone, which gives them access to a constant oil source, making them fairly resistant to rusting. In addition, the sheath of these knives becomes quickly permeated by the honing oil, allowing the knife to have a nice, safe rust preventative home.

When a knife has been regularly stored with moisture on the blade, or if the sheath has been permeated by water, the chances that rust will appear are heightened. This is a consistent message in double reed making books, and most teachers will apprise the student of this, if it was not an automatic assumption.

However, young players have been known to not put their tools away completely clean, or at all. People are not born knowing these details, but there is a basic assumption that the owner of a tool will provide minimal care. In this case, that means wiping the knife off before putting it away.

In any case, here are some helpful hints on how to remove the rust:

1) Immerse the blade in lemon oil overnight, and wipe dry the next day. If this did not work...
2) Rub the metal with steel wool and WD-40 and then leave a thin coat of WD-40 on the blade for a few days. Examine the sheath and if it is wet - dry it and then spray a thin coat of WD-40 in it. Try rubbing the blade again with the steel wool, if all the rust has not already been taken off. In most cases, all the rust will not be able to be removed, or there may be a coloration left behind on the face of the blade. Neither of these will render the knife unusable, but keeping the knife dry will aid in not having this reoccur.

A great question about bassoon cane

I just answered a question for a player about why some forms of bassoon cane are vastly different prices, and want to share it with you. I've had this question posed many times before.

Hello, On the website you have Charles Gouged and profiled cane (not shaped) marked As Low As $4.00,






and the Charles Gouged, Shaped and Profiled bassoon cane as low as $2.95.






Why is the cane that has been shaped cheaper than cane that is not shaped? Thank you

Dear Ben,
Thanks for your note about the difference in cane prices. I do know a reason for this and your question is asked often. I am going to post your question and this response to the blog, and thank you for raising the question.

The processors of cane are set up for gouging, then shaping and then profiling - in that order, using machines that are timed to work in sequence. When that sequence is altered, they stop production, recalibrate the machines, and process gouged and profiled (not shaped) for a little while, and then return to the regular settings.

The call for this cane is low, and it is economically unreasonable for the processors to produce large quantities, which would bring the price down, as there are not enough orders to warrant it.
Therefore - the price is astronomical, to make it worth their while to go through this recalibration.

We don't charge any extra, but simply pass along the higher cost that they demand.
Occasionally, you'll find gouged and shaped, but not profiled cane available. That remains cheaper, because they simply take the cane out of the process before it runs through the profiling machines.