New Reed wrap?

When I first started making reeds under the tutelage of Dr. Carolyn Beck, I used a composite of ABS plastic reduced in acetone. It worked well, sealed all the little cracks and kept the wires in place...forever. But, it is highly toxic, you have to seal reeds outside, and if it gets on you--forget about it!!

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 During my doctorate with Dr. Janis McKay at UNLV, I started using thread and Duco cement. This is a typical binding step, used by many bassoonists across the world. I didn't like the toxicity of Duco and experimented with beeswax one summer, but nothing really outlasted Duco. I has never been great at wrapping the end knots. I've experimented with cotton thread, nylon thread and even thicker FF+ thread.

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However, Duco is getting harder and harder to find in stores. So, I remember a few blog posts I read about glue guns. So, I stopped by Michael's today and decided to try some stuff!

​Here's what I bought: 

2 packs of silk embroidery thread (one pack fluorescents, one pack variegated), a glue gun, and a ton (OK, it was 100) of glue sticks. 

It took me a minute to get the hang of it, but here are my overall impressions:

Can you tell which ones I did first???

I can use thread still to get me the color I love! The glue gun is a little messy and the reeds look like heck, but I like not feeling light headed!!!

​More to come once I finish them!!