Oboe Reed Making: Shaping cane Dr. Kelley Tracz Assistant Professor of Oboe Concordia College www.kelleytraczoboe.com

Oboe Reed Making: Tying Blanks Dr. Kelley Tracz Assistant Professor of Oboe Concordia College www.kelleytraczoboe.com

www.kelleytraczoboe.com Hi UNCG Oboe Studio friends! Here is a video I made for y'all showing how I get my knives WICKED SHAAAAHP. Hopefully you can try it out & have some success with it in your own reed making routine. Stay sane & healthy! UPDATE: A quick note about the use of oil on the stone. Using a bit of mineral oil on your stone can serve a couple of purposes. 1) Use it to clean by putting a small amount on a paper towel or cotton ball & wipe over the stone. You may need to do this a couple times with new paper towels or cotton balls because it can get messy. This will take off the grey stuff on the stone (metal fragments that build up over time), & will allow the stone to come into contact with your knife again. The less metal buildup there is on the stone, the better the connection between the stone & the blade of your knife will be... AKA your knife will be sharp! 2) Some people use mineral oil every time they sharpen their knife. I do not do that every single time, but if I have completely lost my edge or am trying to resurrect an old knife from the dead, then I would consider wiping a small amount of oil across the stone. Make sure to wipe off the oil & metal fragments off your blade before using honing rod & putting it on your reed. Oily reeds with metal fragments are gross.