Forming The Reed Head
Start by marking off the centre line on the gouged side of the slip, then on both sides across the slip mark off at 3/4", then draw two angled lines from the 3/4" line to form a blunt point 2mm either side of centre line see picture top left.
Place the slip onto the shooting block, gouged side up, support the slip with your fingers and with your craft knife, cut along the angled lines from the 3/4" line, towards the ends of the slip as seen in picture top right & middle left.
Now mark another line across, on the outer shiny curved surface of the slip at 1/8"above the 3/4" line you made previously, and with a smooth file or sanding block, round off/blend in the sharp edge between these two marks, giving you a nice boat shape, repeat this at the other end of the slip, see picture middle right.
You can also remove a bed into the ends of each tail if required, remove about half the thickness from the 3/4" line, cut towards the tip, on both sides, this helps the bottom of the tails to form around the staple when it is bound on, (this procedure is not at all critical and can be left out if you wish), see picture bottom left.
Mark another line, 1/4" from the very end of the slip, and sand off half the thickness from the line to the end of the tails on the outer curved shiny surface, see pictures bottom left & right.
