Fred has a few videos showing his work.  Here is one on machining:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wViGmiHrAIY

He also has one on his plating set-up.  Also some photos on how the mouthpiece tip and body looks after intermediate finishing steps.

I don't think he hand finishes his facing curve.  Maybe a few passes but probably no facing gages. The left/right side rails are not uniform in the ones I have measured.  The machining video shows a radial facing operation.  

I also do not care for his use of pointed corners with thin rails.  Most reeds have curved corners and tend to leak air at the corners unless they overhang the tip some.  

I think Alexander reeds have pointed corners.  Any others?

Yeah, this video has been floating around for a while.

A close friend of mine was a repair tech at Robertos for a few years and
came to know Fred when Fred was working out of Robertos space for a time.
Fred is the nicest guy and very generous but doesn't have a system for
finishing the curves.  He free-hands without taking any measurements;
approaching his pieces more like a sculptor than a craftsman.  He was doing
some "refacing" out of Robertos but...reluctantly.  Of course many players
confuse this craft with "art" and are easily mystified.

He doesn't actually play at all anymore and hasn't for decades.  That said
I've been playing a hard rubber jazz on tenor that I absolutely love after
some quick and relatively minor adjustments to the curve.  I also prefer
his hard rubber alto pieces to the Meyer/Meyer copies.


On Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 12:01 PM, MojoBari <kwbradbury@...> wrote:

> **
>
>
> Fred has a few videos showing his work. Here is one on machining:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wViGmiHrAIY
>
> He also has one on his plating set-up. Also some photos on how the
> mouthpiece tip and body looks after intermediate finishing steps.
>
> I don't think he hand finishes his facing curve. Maybe a few passes but
> probably no facing gages. The left/right side rails are not uniform in the
> ones I have measured. The machining video shows a radial facing operation.
>
> I also do not care for his use of pointed corners with thin rails. Most
> reeds have curved corners and tend to leak air at the corners unless they
> overhang the tip some.
>
> I think Alexander reeds have pointed corners. Any others?
>
> 
>



-- 
Matt
www.matthewvossjazz.com