Reed profiled with STANDARD TEMPLATE

The "ORTUSO  PROFILER MKIII" is a high precision instrument developed in the professional environment of a symphony orchestra. The profiler enables one to profile (scrape) an oboe reed blank (bound to the staple) in a few minutes up to the finished stage with the highest accuracy. One of the most desirable features available is the template height adjustment. This feature is needed to be able to remove the desired amount of cane from the back of the scrape without altering the thickness of the tip and vice-versa. The length of the scrape can be altered by resetting the half-moon shaped cover located on the template.

The scraping process is accomplished by following the three-dimensional contour of a metal template as a guide for the cutting blade. The standard ORTUSO TEMPLATE supplied with the profiler will produce an excellent reed. However, upon request, it is possible to have a customized template manufactured.

The reed is fastened on a rotating block in line with a metal reed template. A guiding tip and a cutting blade mounted on a carriage, in line with each other, are brought into contact with the reed's template and the reed blank. The carriage is moved along the template in a continual motion with one hand while slowly rotating the template block with the other hand allowing wood to be removed from the reed blank.

All components are made of steel, bronze, brass and aluminium, with the exception of the carriage knob which is made of wood. The carriage and housing block shafts are made of hardened high grade steel in order to minimize wear thus ensuring a life time trouble free service. The "Ortuso profiler" is robustly constructed and if used correctly will last indefinitely. The cutting blade is made from a special steel containing Tungsten and Cobalt thus possessing toughness and a high level of resistance to abrasion. Additional blades, available from the manufacturer, are rarely needed as they are easily sharpened by the user.

The "Ortuso profiler" is an invaluable tool. The consistency and quality of the reeds will always be of a high standard and a great deal of time will be saved.