John Butler: Between the Reamers and the Reeds

As is often the case in a craft so obscure, the craftsmanship starts a few levels of remove from the artifact it will produce. Butler’s first task was to make the tools needed to craft the finished product. One of the first is called a “reamer,” a long, thin shaft of carbon steel whose profile follows the internal contours in the bore, in reverse. “Between the reamers and the reeds, that’s where the magic lies,” says Butler. “It’s really down to the amount of time and detail you put into getting these right.”