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Trimming the Cane After marking the ends of the instrument with tape, cut the piece at least one inch too long on the distal end, and about 1/4-inch too long at the mouthpiece end. The ideal tool for this is an Exacto saw and miter box, which may be purchased at any hobby shop for about twenty dollars. Examine the ends for splits. Epoxy glue will repair splits, providing no oil has been applied to the stalk. This is why I never use oil except after all construction is completed. Knocking out the Segments At this time all the segments except the one closest to the mouthpiece will be removed, starting from the distal end of the tube. I use a coarse 1/2-inch rat-tail file. I have brazed a steel rod an to the shank of the file so that it may reach all the webs. The small diameter is sharpened to pierce the node membrane. Be careful not to damage the mouthpiece-end node. This node will only be filed out to a diameter of 1/4-inch. If in the making of the instrument this membrane is damaged, cut it out and glue in another. To cut out the hole I use a 1/16-inch drill, then file the hole to size using a very fine rat-tail file. The hole should be uniform and round, centered in the bore. This is a critical part of the ney. Cutting the Tone Holes The tone holes are uniformly round, with a diameter of nine millimeters. When the tone holes are initially cut, the walls should be perpendicular, with no rounding of the corners at the inside or outside diameters. After the ney is played it might be found that a tone hole needs to be moved slightly. In this case it is plugged with another piece of cane and re-cut. One often finds little crescents on fine neys where several holes have been shifted slightly. If the tone holes are rounded (frazed), the plug cannot be glued in satisfactorily. The key here is that the flute should not be oiled until one is sure of the final tone hole position, as any oil will prevent glue from adhering to the wood. A large twist drill cannot be used for drilling the holes, as the cane will split. A very small twist drill may be used, the holes being opened up with a file, then sandpaper wrapped around progressively larger dowels. A better way is to make or have a machinist make a trepanning tool (see figure 5 below). This is essentially a small hole drill. The tool cores out the wood easily, creating perfect holes each time. A plastic guide for the tool can easily be made to position the tool. Two sizes of trepanning tools should be made; one for holes, the other for plugs.
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