Philadelphia reed knife company

Lenox Corporation Oneida Reed and Barton kate spade new york. Privacy Policy. Thanks For Subscribing! You will receive a confirmation email shortly. Start Shopping. Especially if you are just starting out. The most common blade for oboists in the United States and many parts of Latin America is the double hollow ground knife.

This knife can be sharpened to a fine edge and is sturdy enough to push against without chattering bouncing uncontrollably when pressing for the scrape. Once you gain some knife technique Most oboists from Eastman, the University of Texas, and many other schools use this blade for the bulk of the scraping process. Though not as popular among bassoonists, I have met many who love the versatility of the Double Hollow Ground blade.

My favorite knife and the one I use to make all my reeds from start to finish is the Chiagrugi razor. Each knife lasts me about two years and sharpens easily. These knives are generally sold un-handed but as they are sharpened they gain handedness chirality. So they are great for gifts to right-handed and left-handed players alike. These knives are excellent for finishing the tip or making fine adjustments.

The technique takes a while to master, and it is very common for novice reed makers to shred the tips of the reed with this knife or chatter on the back of the reed. However, once the technique is learned, this knife gives the user unbelievable control and finesse, and I find myself always finishing my reeds with my landwell razor.

The difference is remarkable. Many makers of these knives offer different hardness of steel. Clarinetists and bassoonists tend to like harder varieties because they hold an edge much longer. Oboists tend to sway toward medium or softer hardness to have more control over the edge of the blade. These knives may or may not come handed, but once sharpened they cannot be converted. Keep this in mind if you let someone else sharpen your knife. Sharpening is a skill that should be in constant development for the reed making student.

I have some tips later in this article for sharpening. The single most popular razor knife among oboists and bassoonists alike is the Landwell. Some older makers may have a Philadelphia brand, which is an excellent knife but increasingly difficult to find. Jende and Chang are also popular brands. Although the Chang is very sharp, easy to use, and was at one time my favorite knife, it is fairly brittle and will shatter if dropped. I have since opted for a Landwell with a slightly thicker blade, but the Chang will always summon fond memories.

Be careful with your knives! See the section on tool bags. Make sure you have a sheath for your knife and a secure tool bag or carrier. These knives are very popular as a multipurpose do-anything knife.

That's a question that will lead to more arguments than politics and religion combined. It's purely a matter of taste, the best we can do is to give you some general information on the knives and leave you to your own devices. Knife types Reed scraping knives are either beveled, wedge, double hollow ground, or razor style a type of double hollow ground knife. Beveled knives are handed; a left handed person can't use a right hand beveled knife and vice versa.

Most double hollow ground and razor style knives are non handed when they are sold, some future sharpening methods may make them handed. Landwell double hollow ground knives except model "D" are handed as sold, the leading and trailing edge are ground at different angles.

Ceramic Folding Reed Knife Double hollow ground ceramic blade, designed for reed scraping. No more sharpening, and at a terrific price! Made of stainless steel with a varnished wood handle. Sheath included. Double Hollow Ground Knife Made of excellent steel, with a hardwood handle. Available with either straight or angled tip.

Chiarugi Rigotti Reed Knife Double hollow ground blade with wood handle. Sharpen on fine India, diamond, or hard Arkansas stone. Comes with sheath. Landwell Reed Knife An excellent Canadian made double hollow ground knife, available made of soft, medium, or hard steel. Although New York City was the center of garment worker activism, developments there could not help but affect Philadelphia workers.

In late , thousands of New York City garment workers—many of them young, Jewish, immigrant women from southern and eastern Europe—walked out of their jobs. Strikers in both cities eventually won many of their demands. In Philadelphia these included a fifty-four-hour week, higher wages, and an end to the practice of charging for work materials.

They did not, however, win a closed shop, in which employers recognize the union as sole bargaining agent for all employees. Philadelphia garment workers demographically resembled their New York City counterparts.

Jewish Philadelphians predominated in the early twentieth-century garment industry, both as factory owners and employees. Factory owners tended to be German-Jewish, while their employees were largely Russian-Jewish. Concentrated in South Philadelphia , garment workers often lived close to their workplaces.

A handful of Italians also worked in the garment industry. As in other industries, however, African Americans first gained access to the garment industry, including in —10 and again in , as strikebreakers. For this group, the expanded production of World Wars I and II brought about longer-term, though not permanent, opportunities.

Kirschenbaum tried to lure workers away from unions with corporate welfare —employer-dominated company unions and other benefits meant to encourage loyalty to the company and discourage independent organizing. Union strength continued to grow, however, and a general dress-industry strike forced Philadelphia employers to recognize the ILGWU.

The labor-friendly legislation of the New Deal helped consolidate these gains, though not consistently. A Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry survey of garment workers in Allentown, Doylestown , Philadelphia, and Shamokin found National Recovery Act regulations laxly and sporadically enforced. This photograph, taken in , depicts workers at sewing machines piecing together garments on the the fifth floor of N.

Thirteenth Street. Deindustrialization affected the Philadelphia garment industry as early as the s. The development of synthetics also posed challenges; many firms that produced silk hosiery, for example, could not afford to convert to nylon and closed. By the s, the industry also faced international competition. Nationally, imports made up only 3 percent of the garment industry in , but up to 88 percent in Sectors of the industry that had long relied more on machine technology, including knitwear and menswear, were able to stave off this competition for longer, but even these areas declined precipitously by the s.

Philadelphia garment work bore many similarities to the industry elsewhere, especially New York City. In both places, the industry grew to employ large numbers of young, immigrant women who worked for low pay and long hours under sometimes dangerous conditions.

The city had its own demographic, economic, and geographic factors that influenced the shape and development of this sector. Employers were more likely to be risk-averse, and employment was scattered across factories, shops, and homes.

The decentralized nature of the industry gave employers flexibility but could mean insecurity for employees. Unions also had difficulty organizing such a diffuse workforce.