Reed Slot Sizing
Hi Kinya, hello friendly Gang,
if I understood your lesson Reed Slot Sizing well, you advice us to emboss the first 2/3 of the reed slot TOWARDS the riveted root of the reed
and let the free tongue of the root float free w/o embossing because of that Bernoulli principle (read something about reed slot scooping this way). All this does make sense, but before I read something wrong and grow nuts, I must ask:
I am embossing my harps without any other deeper knowledge exactly the other way arround: because embossing (reed slot sizing to your words) is dificult to accomplish in the root of the reed (where the reed is riveted), I only emboss the first 2/3 of the reed towards it's free end and am very happy with it since a life time.
That is how they told me to do it first, and it made sense, because it was easy to do with a ball-bearing or even with a coin. Now, I learn that I spent half of my life on the wrong lane. I must overblow on 4 5 and 6 even if I am not very keen of doing so and bad embossing or none is a no-go this way.
Do I have to learn new? Please do NOT take my question as criticism: I am still learning and eager to do so. Your lessons have been very valuable and I am happy to have seen them, learned already a lot and I am looking to learn more.
Thanks, Razvan
Thank you dear Kinya for your kind words and also for the precise explanation. I was doing it wrong all the time, embossing mostly the end of the slot where the free end of the reed is and neglecting it's root, towards the rivet.
Now I know better.
By the way: the HotRod Harmonica tool presented above is a jewel I can't afford. For me, it is just fun: I am no pro. But by having had a locksmith training in my youth, I love to build my tools myself and if I would be a such great harp player like I am a locksmith, you probably would already heard me playing together with the big ones (LOL: just jocking).
As lately my favourite flat jewler's file broke right after the shaft, I decided to give it a second life and reshape it to an embossing tool. Using a rotary tool and a hard stone I shaped the broken flat file to a triangle with an angle about 30° to it's tip, very much similar to your universal embossing tool but much smaller.
Only that I carefully rounded ALL the edges, both the flat one that goes parallel to the shaft of the file as also the one at the tip in 30° to the shaft. So I can use all edges now for embossing and if I happen to need a sharp corner (like your universal tool has), I grab an exacto knife and use it's back side that I shaved off a little to make it less agressive.
I also took care to gently polish my makeshift-tool at it's rounded edges, because I do not want it to shave the brass of the reed plate away. Having it polished and adding a drop of oil lets it just glide smoothly over the edge. Badly polished tools (like coins) make horible dents into the corner of the brass: been there, spoiled that.
(would include pictures, but it is hard to do here)
I only emboss the root of the reed slot towards the riveted end with this tool. For the free end, I use (like that other genial Sleigh’s tool) the shaft of a polished 10mm steel screw (the part beyond the thread) to do embossing for both sides at once while watching my doing and stoping before it gets too tight.
It works. Your advice is welcome and a precious addition to my skill. I wish I would practice playing the harps as long as I spend tweacking them, but I seem to remain a tech.
Yours friendly, Razvan
Hi Razvan, you are not alone--many fellow Harp Techs replay the same mantra as you, "I wish I would practice playing the harps as long as I spend tweaking them ..."
As for me, counterbalancing my passion in harmonicas with bench time, is very therapeutic--maybe even meditative.
p.s. the Webmaster will be posting "how to paste photos" to the forum shortly. We would luv to see the tools you've created!
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Hello Razvan, while we are waiting for the Webmaster to post his instructions for inserting photos to this Forum, if you're computer is equipped with Google Drive Docs, I can instruct you on how to submit your photos here ...
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
sorry, I am old fashioned enough not to have those G- drives...
But something else. At other places in this valuable forum I read about cleaning the reed plates with chemical oxide removal and polishing pastes. Good things to have, but if you don't or if the case you are working on is not worth buying a whole pint of those oxide removal substances (or if you mind their side effects)...
well.. me, penny-wise like I happen to be, I use for the milder cases of less oxidized reed plates common tooth paste from a sort used by dedicated smokers in order to still remain in the favour of their ladies without giving up their smoking habit. I am not an endorser of this brand and I am sure that there will be some intercontinental divides in terms of availability of this particular toothpaste in your country, but if you are interested in it and take a closer look at the product, I am sure you can find something similar even in a drugstore next to the north pole:
Just search for:
It helps. Using a discarded toothbrush or even a rotary tool with a brush on top of it taking care not to bend the reeds, will help a lot. Just like cleaning your third set of teeth.
Friendly yours, Razvan
Thanks for the tip Razvan.
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Hello Razvan, it's good to have you on this Forum. Sizing reed slots is an effective technique to increase the compression of your harmonica. This will transform a good playing harmonica into a great playing harmonica.
Sizing (aka embossing, burnishing) the reed plate slots should start at the reed rivet side, then work towards the free end of the reed. 2/3 the length of the reed plate slot is the minimum amount that should be done, however, many Harp Techs routinely size the entire length of the slot with favorable results.
The most impact you can make to improving the playability (volume and bending) of your harmonica is to properly reduce the tolerance at both sides of the fixed end (rivet) the reed slot. This is where skill (practice) and the proper tools are essential.
Look closely and you will see a sliver of light between the side of the reed and reed plate slot. The idea is to reduce the amount of light, thereby, reducing the tolerance that the reed will pass through. Richard Sleigh’s hardened precision burnishing (sizing) tool will allow you to reach into those tight spots and re-size the soft brass material of the reed plate. Essentially, you will be "pushing" the length of the reed plate slot edges into the glide path of the vibrating reed--just close enough not to get whacked. https://hotrodharmonicas.com/new-tools/
Supporting the reed with a shim (reed plinking tool, feeler guage .005") will allow you to use the side of the reed as a “fence” to safely butt up to, and surgically guide the sizing tool.
Here is an image of a successfully sized reed slot. BTW, this harmonica plays very well!
Your Harpsmith, Kinya