Any suggestions on suitable and available tools? (A hammer t
o
smash the reed and render the pipes inoperable is not an acceptable
reply
!)

"The ill wind that no one blows good."

Ahh... my son and I have been working on that issue for a couple of
years. He plays both highland and Illian (dry wind) pipes.

The problem is that a good reed that can switch octaves is ultimately a
VERY complex shape -- not merely a single-plane profile, but contoured in
all three axes.

He's become very good at carving his own slips and tailoring them to a
particular chanter or drone, but hasn't yet quantified much of anything.
He's made reeds from everything from beer cans to credit cards to
graphite composites, and they all work (some only passibly).

You have quite an analysis project ahead of you. Even the real
"masters" still carve pipe reeds by hand. (although the Japanese seem to
be successfully making cast composite reeds for orchestral woodwinds)

LLoyd