I have been using a cheapo student knife that came with a reed kit to learn to make reeds and it just won't even stay sharp because it is so soft! I'm considering getting a better one. Since I am a beginner at reed making, I don't really know much about knives. Which would be a good knife to get? What would be the best knife shape (wedge, hollow ground, ect.)Thanks in advance for your help!

Abigail

In order to make a decent reed, you need a minimum of two knives. The first kind you use to scrape the heart and the back. This is called the beveled edge knife. The second knife you use for scraping the tip. This knife can either be a double hollow ground or a straight edge knife. Either of these should work. I'm just curious though, where did you buy the knife from? I bought mine from Midwest Musical Imports, and they are super easy to sharpen.

I just got mine in a kit that I bought from Forrests Music.

I seem to do fine with only 1 reed knife. Right now I have a French Razor Knife from RDG. I didn't know about sharpening until I'f had my knife for 8 months. It stayed sharp for all those month, but I suppose I didn't really use it much (only about a reed a week). I think it's a really good knife.

Link: http://www.rdgwoodwinds.com/product_info.php?cPath=1_39_40&products_id=183

From what I hear it really depends on personal preference. So far my favorite is the Japanese Ando beveled knife. I like the idea of having multiple knives, but it's not necessarily practical for a beginning student price wise. Based on the knife different parts will be more suited for differnt types of use. I was able to go to a camp where we tried each others during reed class which was good because we were able to test different types without buying them.

What camp did you go to?