waldo

Rest in Peace

1993 – 2007

Read about Waldo

casimer’s machine

While still in high school, I realized that store-bought gouged oboe cane was not compatible with my unique style of reed making. The gouge used by my mentor, Engelbert Brenner was significantly thicker than anything commercially available. Brenner suggested I get my own gouging machine.

60 miles away from my childhood home, Hans Moennig sat in his woodwind repair shop for decades. His craft was so highly in demand, one had to “know someone” to have an instrument worked on by Herr Moennig. Brenner was that “somebody” for me, and I was allowed to be a customer. Moennig overhauled and repaired my instruments for several years while still in high school, and later at the New England Conservatory.

Moennig had an assistant named Casimir Luczycki. Casimer learned his craft from Moenning, and his work was first-rate as a result. Brenner made a call to Herr Moennig on my behalf, and requested a gouging machine for me. Moennig assigned Casimer to the project, and I was informed that there would be a waiting period of several months while the machine is ‘made’.

Later that year, I received a call from Casimer – the gouger would be ready for pick-up at the end of the week. We set that Friday as the day I would come to Philadelphia to get my new gouger. Mr. Brenner’s oboe was in need of a tweak from Moennig’s magic hands, so we both drove together to Moennig’s shop. Mr. Brenner was treated like royalty in the old, rickety downtown Philly shop. Orchestral “War Stories” were exchanged. Stevens Hewitt was there that day, and had never met Brenner before, but told him that he traveled weekly from Philadelphia to New York to hear him play principal oboe in the Stadium Concerts over the summer months. 2 Curtis students were there that day as well – in awe watching the two symphony oboists share stories (me too!).

The strange thing about this trip for me is that it was to be an empty-handed trip back to New Jersey; Casimer had not finished my gouger in time, and it simply wasn’t ready for delivery! He showed it to me – it was in pieces in a cardboard box. He told me he would call me as soon as the machine was finished.

About 2 weeks later, Casimir Luczycki called me to tell me that the machine is complete, and that he needed directions to my house so he could hand-deliver it to me. It was a classy thing to do in light of the situation. He brought me my machine and told me a bit more about it. It is a stock Graf gouger that he disassembled completely, replaced the Graf blade with an experimental blade (different metal composition) of his own design, and used an invention of his to ensure the bed & guide are machined perfectly straight & true to one another.

I used this gouger successfully for 10 years, until Mr. Brenner passed away and left me his own gougers in his will. The ‘Casimer Gouger’ needs a good cleaning – sitting in a drawer unused for 20 years hasn’t done much for it cosmetically, but I’ll clean her & bring her back to life. I’ll bet it works as it did 30 years ago.

I suspect I may have the only machine of this lineage. Anyone know of another?