Forestone Synthetic reed Factory tour no.1

Forestone, a Japanese manufacturer that produces resin reeds for saxophone & clarinet. I went on a factory tour to find out how the company's plastic reeds, which are frequently used by professional players as well as for educational purposes in Japan, are made.

Advantages of resin reeds

Before we tour the factory, let's summarize the advantages of resin reeds compared to natural reeds.

Among resin reeds, the unique features of Forestone are below.

Now that the characteristics of the resin lead are known, let's visit the factory!
I went to Ashikaga City in Tochigi Prefecture, where the Watarase River flows.

I went to Ashikaga City in Tochigi Prefecture, where the Watarase River flows.

Forestone's partner factory is similar to many other small factories that are the pride of Japan. The factory has been manufacturing plastic parts using molds for 50 years, but has been involved in the development of resin reeds since only 2007.

Although not shown in the photos, they produced a variety of resin products besides reeds.

Let’s check out the production site.

When you think of “Forestone reeds”, “bamboo-derived cellulose fiber” comes to mind.

As the fiber content increases, the brownness and the reed strength increase.

The standard state of the produced reed is the Traditional model. Blackbamboo is a firmer carbon material. Some reeds contain a dye instead of carbon. MONSTER REED brand, a collaboration between Forestone and the European EC site Thomann, is green.

First, the bamboo fiber, which contains a lot of moisture, is dried for 2-3 hours to make it easier to process.

Next, the material is injected into the mold

It took considerable effort before they found the right temperature at which the bamboo fiber and polypropylene could be melted, and the right mold pressure for the best results.

Molds are available for each instrument and cut style, such as the Alto filed cut (French cut), Alto unfiled cut (American cut) and so on.
* The photo shows the filed cut (French cut)

As mentioned above, at Forestone, the strength of the reed changes depending on the fiber mix ratio, and each model uses one type of mold.

The mold is installed on the machine and the material is poured in. In technical terms, it is called “injection”.

The freshly made reeds were slightly warm.

Most resin reeds are manufactured by machining, but Forestone reeds can be thinned to 0.1mm using injection molding.

It has a runner like a plastic model. When the reed cools, it is carefully removed from the runner with a cutter.

Add the printing, and voila!

No, not really.

If the reed is left as it is, the material will warp or get distorted during cooling. After it has cooled, it is processed to improve the mouthpiece fit and the blowing feel...

To be continued!
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Forestone Synthetic reed Factory tour no.2