Most reed knives are designed with either right-handed or left-handed players in mind, but many musicians have never had the opportunity to see how a left-handed reed knife is actually used. While the knife itself is important, the sharpening and technique behind it are just as critical to achieving clean, controlled reed work.
In this article, we take a closer look at a left-handed reed knife being used and sharpened by a left-handed sharpener. Watching someone who regularly works with left-handed tools provides valuable insight into edge geometry, sharpening angles, and handling techniques that are often overlooked. Whether you’re an oboe or bassoon player, a reed maker, or simply interested in precision sharpening, understanding how a left-handed reed knife performs can help you get better results and extend the life of your blade.
Let’s take a closer look at the sharpening process and what makes a properly sharpened left-handed reed knife perform at its best.
All you left-handed people out there, we are going to sharpen in our left hand. Four left-handed re-knifed people. We’re going to start off with one coin to thin out the edge. I’ve got a what do we got here a chirugi. So, put the coin here. We’re going to use it on the lip, with the knife in your left hand. Again, left-hand sharpener, left-hand person, left-hand knife. So we’re going to start with the blade going away, on the lip of the coin. Balance with your right hand. And you’re just going to come forward, set it back up. There. Okay. If you get confident, come back, set it back up. Forward, set it back up. And you can do a few strokes. Yeah, you’re working the W pattern. All right. Whenever you’re not sure, just come back, set it up. Now, I am not a left-handed sharpener, but I play one on TV. So I’ve got a really strong burr established here. That bevel is nice and even here. So we have our burr, and we’re going to come back with our raised angle and reinforce that. So we’re going to use a second coin, or the nickel, and do that for a little bit, to establish that reinforced angle.
Same thing on the lip here. And work that until we get a second bevel. Now, you should get a burr very fast, because obviously it was there before, so now it’s really there. There is a second bevel there. So we’ll flip it over now and come towards us. Left hand again, with a lower angle. That offsets that, so it’s able to be ready when you scrape. Again, here on the lip, all the way in. And forward, set it up again. Bring it back, set it up. Again, doing like a W pattern. Okay, set it up. If you’re not sure and even I’m not the surest left-hander here. So we’ve got the burr, and we’re going to kill that bird and be right back. So now that the bird is dead, we’ll switch grits and do the same process on the 1000-grit stone. Start off with one coin, knife in the left hand, facing away. This just thins things out, again. Okay, after that, we switch over to the second coin, or the nickel angle, the higher angle, and reinforce that angle. Okay. Feel for the burr, and it is present. And we’re going to switch to the other side.
So with one coin, we’re going to have the blade come towards us. Same thing again, all the way in, forward, on the lip. Okay. Feel for the burr. Very well established. Excellent. Then we’re going to clean that off. So we’re going to start with two coins, working away. Okay, forward. And then move off towards the edge of the stone, and lift off. Come back with one coin. Come towards you, forward. Then start marking our skew and lift off. And always finish away with the higher angle. And your burr should be on this side of the blade. So now the burr is positioned to scrape, left-handed.