[Harp-L] Bamboo combs

[joe leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

You, yes, I'm talking to you. You can make a bamboo comb. Here's how  
it's done. Here's how I did it.

Dumpster dive for a piece of bamboo flooring. Mine was 2.66" (67.5mm)  
wide x 0.35" (8.75mm) thick.
Cut ACROSS the grain some 1.25" (31.5mm) strips. You will need two  
per comb. They come with
tongues and grooves. You don't want that. Cut the tongue off one  
piece, the groove off the other and
kerf them to accept a 1/16" (1.5mm) spline. Insert spline in kerf and  
glue with epoxy.

Lay out your channels on the 5.33" (125mm) blank and do so in a way  
that one of the dividers will fall
straddling the glued joint. I chose to cut across the grain for one  
simple reason. It is much safer to use
a jeweler's saw (coping saw with fine kerf will also work), cutting  
the dividers WITH the grain. At least
at home. Cutting across the grain brings the risk of the dividers  
(teeth) breaking. Go slowly as you cut.

You're saving money here, so your time shouldn't be so tight that you  
have to get sloppy because you
need to rush granny off to the Beau Arts Ball. After you have cut  
your blank's slots, it's a simple matter
of trimming off the ends to size. Remember, because you straddled the  
glue line, you will have unequal
ends. I choose to work towards one end anyway so the glue joint was  
in an UPPER register reed divider.

If you want to bury the reed plates, you can take a hacksaw and take  
the face off of a spl-20 comb and finish
it by rubbing it on a file or sandpaper so that only the face  
1/6" (1.5mm) is left. You can then glue this to the
faces of the comb teeth. It will be sort of like an XB. I like to  
make my webs bigger and slots smaller in the
 comb itself. First of all, the small reduction in width to the  
channels is only going to (comparitively) venturi
MORE air into the channel. At least by volume measure. Same air x  
less slot volume = MORE pressure.

Consequently I wind up with thicker slot divider webs. This won't  
matter because your mouthpiece will still
 be the same dimensions and the thicker webs helps make the webs  
stronger. That PLUS you have cut them
WITH the grain. (Most others cut across the grain). If you must seal,  
remember that this flooring is already
 sealed BUT to seal the raw edges, you might want to apply a  
sealant. I have always used a 50/50 mix of
baby oil and Vick's Vapo Rub. Melt it slow & low on an ELECTRIC  
burner. No open flames please. Unless,
of course, you are flaming this tretise.

smokey-joe (Joe Leone, Fla).