1. A device for manufacturing a reed contact comprising a cutting plate and a guide adapted to receive and hold an essentially flat reed having a narrow part, a cutting punch for cutting a reed, said cutting plate and said guide each including a nose portion for engaging and clamping a narrow part of a reed, said cutting punch upon being lowered separating a reed into a contact part and a discardable part along a line through the narrow part of the reed, and said cutting punch pushing any burrs into the narrow part of the reed out of the way of a contact face of the reed to reduce the risk of making contact between the burrs and similar reed contacts.