Re: jargon
William Duffield, on the Cohansey
>I originally didn't answer the question, because I don't know how the original workmen did it, or even who the originals were, but I strongly suspect different workmen did it different ways, depending on the tools and skills available to them.
I usually use a router or laminate trimmer, mounted in a box that either rides on lathe bed ways or a flat benchtop. The last fluted ones, architectural, were done on a Legacy mill. The problems with using one of these methods for reeds is the fragility of the sharp point of the carbide router bit, which usually has to be custom made. Another serious issue is that the diameters of the flutes change as the diameter of the column changes. I finish the shapes with a home made scraper, ground from a hacksaw blade. Even if you started with a gouge or a molding plane, you would have the same problem. I have seen articles showing reeds carved with v-gouges, by hand, following a penciled mark. That is for sure the way "pineapples" and flame finials, with spiral details, were done.
For stopped flutes, the router bits tend to burn the ends of the flutes. You won't find a lot of old stopped flutes, because they are difficult to do. Most of the old guys took the easier route of making the flutes, cutting off the ends of the columns and adding turned elements above and below. If I start with a router, again, I finish with a home made, specially shaped scraper, especially the stopped ends, because the router bit doesn't make the same shape as a bent carving gouge would have made. The problem with molding planes on stopped flutes is that you can't use them to make the shape consistent near the ends, so you are forced to carve the ends of the flutes with a carving gouge.
Hope this helps. It is far, far from an exhaustive analysis.