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4to5to6

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Posts posted by 4to5to6

    Wheatstone Anglo Mini #54553 Randy, Wes?

    in Concertina History

    Posted

    I’m curious… what is it’s measurement across the flats?

     

    I own a 25 key English piccolo that is amazing, not to mention rare and a 12 key miniature English that is the funnest little instrument to play!  I think it has about a 12 fold bellows.  Both are Aeolas like your’s.

     

    Rock Chidley- The Black Sheep?

    in Concertina History

    Posted

    I’m currently doing a vintage restoration on an early 3000s Rock Chidley: tiger striped rosewood, gold buttons, embossed bellows, etc.  It sounds absolutely amazing!  It’s fast, clear and has an interesting resonance that is hard to explain.  I’ve only heard this once before from an 18 guinea Wheatstone.  Correct me if I’m wrong… one could buy a Wheatstone treble for 2 guineas in the 1850s, a very good one for 8 and a concert level one was 12… so 18 was over the edge and this one has the potential of being just as good!  Probably no time to finish it right now, but I will try to keep you posted.  Any idea of a date for serial 30xx?

    Dating A Lachenal From The Serial Number

    in Concertina History

    Posted · Edited by 4to5to6

    One more (there's always one more)... it's my first English concertina...  Lachenal 38857.  A year would be wonderful.

     

    Oops, another "one more"... Lachenal 157767, my first Anglo :)

     

    I'm building hang tags for all my cases putting the manufacture, serial No., date, and original owner's name or some unique characteristic.

     

    I have a few small maker concertinas that I adore: George Cases, a Cramer, a Rock Chidley, a Simpson, etc.  If I don't know, I'm just putting "mid 1800s" on the tag.  Do you have any idea on how to date these ones?  Thanks for all the help.

    Dating A Lachenal From The Serial Number

    in Concertina History

    Posted

    Hi Wes, Thanks for all the help.  I have a very nice Lachenal 49 key McCann duet, serial number 1663 in almost mint condition.  Gut feeling is it is about C. 1900.  Very clean... it even has the key for the case.  Just needs a new case handle and will tune it to A=440.  Please give me a circa year for it?  Thanks.

    UK suppliers of cases?

    in General Concertina Discussion

    Posted · Edited by 4to5to6

    I like the soft bag... I use one like this with a layer of foam in the bottom for day trips... otherwise I prefer the original cases... it's part of the vintage vibe...  old wood hex cases with key latches for the mid 1800s instruments stored on their sides to prevent valve droop and the square leather cases for the early 1900s Aeolas, etc.  I've built almost bullet proof flight cases out of plywood and resin with foam inserts and also used pelican cases but find them quite heavy overall; these are great for flying but generally I never let my box out of my sight.

    Reed screw breakage.

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted

    I got a small quantity of new BA threaded screws from Steve Dickinson as spares.  They are most likely BA threads…  BAtaps and dies are readily available on Amazon.  As suggested, one can always tap it out slightly oversized and use a small metric or SAE bolt.  Go slowly… backing out every quarter turn then forward again to clean the chips out… these taps easily break.

    • Like 1

    Scope for reed tongue alignment

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted

    For years I used my eye to adjust the clearances. I developed a great feel for it. I found however, that if I looked at the reed even off at a slight angle, the tongue position appeared fine but sounding it determined it was off.  Once the scope was perfectly set up to 90 degrees, looking perfectly straight down at the reed set on the flat glass, now I quickly see any misalignment with confidence.  It was well worth the effort to construct the light box.
     

    I think tuning reeds is more of an art than a science… a little too much file pressure can misalign a tongue as often clamp screws are a bit loose or you can twist a very thin reed… I’ve even had a tiny filing burr hang over the side of a tongue on a very tight clearance reed and the scope instantly showed it up. A slight edge swipe with a fine file and the reed was perfect.  It’s great for checking the gap for debris.  It has become a wonderful, used all the time, tool.

     

    And I also agree that it would be great for removing slivers! 

    Scope for reed tongue alignment

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted · Edited by 4to5to6

    Thanks wechruba.  The reason I feel I need a camera with a light table is consistency.  I am completely happy holding the reed up to the light and can clearly see the gaps with my naked eye but I find if I’m just off parallel a bit or the tongue is twisted, or a larger gap, etc. I can misjudge the position of the reed.  I need to hold the reed fixed against a light table with the camera at right angle to get consistency.  I’ve tuned and voiced lots of reeds and built a lot of reed tongues with very good results and measured up maybe 2000 reeds doing reed studies so know what good reeds look like all using the manual approach but think this will be a big upgrade.

    .

     

    Scope for reed tongue alignment

    in Instrument Construction & Repair

    Posted

    I’ve been searching all over the place for a 6X scope to inspect and align reed tongues with no success.  


    Ideally, it would plug it into an older iPad mini.  USB adapter cables are available but it must be Apple compatible with an available app.  I can easily build a small light table for it and a stand to hold the scope if necessary.  It seems like 6x magnification would be ideal.

     

    Any solutions out there?

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