Squeaky Bellows

[Pam B]

I just received my new (old) Wheatstone. It recently had the bellows replaced and they are a bit squeaky. I vaguely remember someone suggesting to a fellow player that they use clear shoe polish, in 'just the right spots" to cut down on the noise. Any comments on this? If polish is OK, where are ‘just the right spots?;

 

Thanks in advance!

[Richard Evans]

Dear Pam,

Shoe polish is the only thing I would recommend to keep your bellows in good condition. Other substances such as oils and dubbin attract mould and can cause the glue to give up the ghost. Some people have used neatsfoot oil, this makes the bellows smell like a dead cow and is not recommended.

Yours Bellowsley,

Richard Evans

[d.elliott]

This problem is also common on older bellows, where the corner gussets fold into themselves. you can often see bright or lighter coloured witness marks were the rubbing takes place. I use shoe cream as an easy to apply (soft cloth), easy to buff off medium, appliable without much rubbing or risk of lifting glued edges. There are also a wide range of colours:

 

Forrest green for green bellows, neutral for around bellows papers, light tan , black etc. In the UK Meltonian is a good brand.

 

Dave

[Richard Evans]

Dave,

Your advice sounds great to me. Meltonian also reaches our shores. I like the reference to "witness marks", it shows that you have been trained in practical engineering!

[JimLucas]

Shoe polish is the only thing I would recommend to keep your bellows in good condition.

Quick comments:

 

1) It's important to be specific, since (at least in America) "shoe polish" can also mean the liquid stuff. Would you also recommend that for bellows?

 

2) I've never used shoe polish or anything else on any of my bellows. I've never felt that such conditioning was either necessary or helpful. I've heard people say they do things like that to improve flexibility on old, dried-out bellows, but my own belief is that a bellows in need of that treatment will quicklly deteriorate with or without added oil or wax. In fact, I thought that the original finish on concertina bellows was a kind of lacquer, and I would expect that if shoe polish could penetrate that finish, it would damage it.

 

3) Pam indicated that her bellows is not old, but new. Should a new bellows need that kind of treatment? Do you really think shoe polish can stop "squeaking"?

 

Looking forward to your response (correction? ).

[ucyljad]

One tutor I read recommended Lemon Oil for both wood and leather bellows.

I asked a concertina maker in the Uk about this and he said he used leather cream.

 

Whatever you use, apply as little as possible as (I think I understand rightly here) any moisture will soak in and weaken the glue used to keep the bellows together. Apply with a soft toothbrush or paintbrush having got rid of any excess dust first.

 

I often clean dust from the valley folds (where does it all come from?), but have never applied anything to the black leather.

 

 

Andy

[Ken_Coles]

One year when I was at Noel Hill School (Pam was there that year, were we in the same class group Pam?) someone came with a concertina having a new bellows. It squeaked mightily. Noel said ordinary (solid) shoe polish would help. The owner used some (neutral color, I think) and overnight the bellows became nearly silent. Sorry, I don't recall if it was applied only to the gussets (though I would think so) or elsewhere. And of course this doesn't tell you anything about (or necessarily apply to) treating old bellows.

[JimLucas]

One year when I was at Noel Hill School someone came with a concertina having a new bellows. It squeaked mightily. Noel said ordinary (solid) shoe polish would help. The owner used some and overnight the bellows became nearly silent.

Interesting, but it raises another quesstion for me: Who made the squeaky bellows? What causes them to squeak? Is it a sign of lesser quality?

 

I've had a couple of brand-new bellows, handled others, and even handled at least one Æola that had remained in its box the 60 years since it had been made. *None* of these "squeaked".

[Pam B]

Well, there was enough postive advice about the polish.....I took the plunge. I used just a dab of neutral solid polish in the appropriate places and all is quiet now. (If my bellows fall apart by the morning, I'll report that too.)

 

In all seriousness, it seemed to do the trick.

 

Thanks for all the advice.

 

Pam

[JimLucas]

I used just a dab of neutral solid polish in the appropriate places and all is quiet now.

Intriguing. I'm regretting now that I didn't ask you to record the "squeaks" before you fixed the problem. I realize I don't know what it sounded like, muc less what producee it. I'm quite curious, but I guess I'll remain so... at least for now.

[Richard Evans]

Dear Jim,

It looks as though the shoe polish did the job! Sorry, I didn't think of that nasty "new age" slop it on polish. Come to think of it, it isn't really polish as you don't have to polish it! Being from the old school I assumed shoe polish meant the stuff in a tin which is a sort of cake of polish. I certainly wouldn't recommend the shortcut stuff as it would probably glue the bellows up permanently and you would never get them open! As for the bellows being squeaky, well I suspect that a new bellows that wasn't free enough in its movement would cause the odd squeak. Who knows! As the old Matchless motorcycle firm from the U.K. used to say "Every customer is a tester!".

Which is probably why the went down the gurgler.

[David Barnert]

Being from the old school I assumed shoe polish meant the stuff in a tin which is a sort of cake of polish.

That's what I was picturing, too. So what is it we are talking about?

[JimLucas]

Being from the old school I assumed shoe polish meant the stuff in a tin which is a sort of cake of polish.

That's what I was picturing, too. So what is it we are talking about?

I believe that is what we're talking about, though I think there's still a little ambiguity. I think that American cake shoe polish is in fact more solid than British "shoe creme", which lives up to its name, but which I suspect would also be OK, if applied sparingly. I merely brought up the liquid ones in case someone else might misunderstand, since in America they are marketed as "liquid shoe polish".

[d.elliott]

Dave,

Your advice sounds great to me. Meltonian also reaches our shores. I like the reference to "witness marks", it shows that you have been trained in practical engineering!

The issue initially raised here is one of treating squeaky bellows, this can only occur where there is abraisive contact /movement. Yes I have noted that there is usually an indication where and when this takes place, and as a professional and practical engineer with thirty years experience I have developed a small understanding of the technical vocabulary. Sometimes its even useful! but it can get in the way, perhaps I should have described the marking as pale rubbing marks rather than witnes marks.

 

As to the 'polish' debate, I have seen and experimented with various treatments, as well as listening to those I know and respect within their craft. I have tried the old fasioned shoe polish, cake in a tin applied by a stiffish brush, and seen the brushing lift the edges of glued joints; applied by cloth it just needs a lot of rubbing in and again mechanial damage may result.

 

Concern was expressed about liquid waxes and oils, remembering that the glues used were animal glues and starch based pastes my concern has been to avoid anything that might cause adhesive failures. Hence my compromise with Meltonian shoe cream, used sparingly to both clean and lubricate the leather. Even though the bellows may have been laquered they will still need cleaning and may need liubrication.

 

I would also avoid the paint it on plastic or silicone based polishes that seem to haunt the shelves of the supermarkets

 

Dave

[duckln]

I don't know if Laquer was availiable way back then, early 1900s.

I think they used black Shellac on the bellows, as was used on ebony Aeolas and Edeos

ends.

All will show wear eventually down to the leather, from rubbing on the

knees, lap etc.

Question: How does one put the 'black' back on the bellows? How

about dabbing, brushing on black Shellac?

 

Joe

[Richard Morse]

This is the first time I've heard of "black shellac" for bellows treatment. I would think that this would NOT be a good idea as it would be incredibly brittle.

 

Maybe you're confusing shellac with lacquer? Both are ancient finishes (artifacts with these finishes have been found as far back as 7000 years ago) and are made from different substances. Shellac is derived from secretions of the lac beetle and lacquer is derived from the sap of certain asian sumac trees.

 

The "natural" color of shellac is amber to orange and for lacquer is dark brown to black.

[Paul Read]

The black on the bellows can be restored with leather dye, followed by a shoe cream to restore the shine.

[duckln]

There is a lot on the net pertaining to shellac and French polishing of Pianos,

and Guitars etc. An easy broad one to read is linked below.

 

http://www.am-wood.com/finishes/french.html

 

I bought 250ml (Fiddes) and French polished my Edeo . Except for the fine hairline

surface cracks, it looks great, nice and shinny. I used very fine grades of 'sanding sponge' but

still the cracks showed through. Two years now and not a 'chip off'.

 

I haven't tried it on the bellows as they don't need it for now. But the leather attached

to the 'frame', where it gets scuffed up from rubbing on your knees, it works fine

on the small areas I've brushed.

 

http://www.fiddes.co.uk/pages/product/shel...llac/blackp.htm