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alex_holden

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About alex_holden

  • Birthday 02/06/1980

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  • Website URL
    http://www.holdenconcertinas.com/

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Interests
    Wood carving, metalwork, Morris Minors, folk music.
  • Location
    Lancashire, England

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  1. Thanks Geoff, that's very interesting. Here is the direct link to the auction lot: https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/auction-team-breker/catalogue-id-breker10039/lot-ec63695b-e762-42e3-a857-b12601235875 Their description: Claude the Clown Musical Automaton by Gustave Vichy, c. 1890 Depicting a clown jauntily playing the concertina atop a banded wood barrel, with plaster-composition character head decorated with painted colored discs, articulated eyes, nose and right foot, the going-barrel motor with six cams and single-air cylinder movement causing Claude to turn and nod his head, move both hands and tap his foot as his eyes dart from left to right and his nose moves in and out in time to the music, dressed in checked silk breeches and magenta satin tailcoat trimmed with lace, ht. 26 in. (66 cm), good working condition, cylinder movement an old replacement, baseboard of barrel replaced, with bone-handled crank and Vichy acorn-form stop / start. - Literature: For similar pieces, see: Christian and Sharon Bailly, "Automates Anciens", exhibition at the Hospice Saint-Charles, 25. Nov.-30. Dec. 1995; Andrea Robertson, "Museum of Automata", p. 38. - With his lopsided grin, raised eyebrows and unique articulated nose, which mimics the folds and the movements of the concertina, "Claude" has one of the most remarkable faces in the Vichy oeuvre. The automaton was not illustrated in the Vichy catalog and surviving examples are exceedingly rare. We know of only four others: one in the former Museum of Automata in York, England, one exhibited at the Hospice Saint-Charles in Paris in 1995 and two in private European collections. And here is the accompanying video: I have saved a copy of the photos in case they get taken down after the auction.
  2. In theory you shouldn't have to pay any extra fees because the eBay shipping system charged you in advance. Good luck with your new instrument!
  3. I think Wally probably meant "I agree with this statement". It's a common shorthand on social media.
  4. I met Willie a few years ago when he came over to England and he's a good bloke, very thoughtful and detail-oriented. He has spent a lot of time quietly building up his skills and tools. I believe he makes all the parts himself including Jeffries-style traditional concertina reeds. Frankly I am surprised he isn't more well known yet.
  5. Depends on the strength of the metal and how delicate the design is. I have used 0.7mm nickel silver with very fine fretwork and 1.2mm 5251-H22 aluminium alloy with slightly heavier fretwork (in hindsight I could probably have got away with 1mm). I imagine stainless steel ends could be a little thinner, maybe 0.6 or 0.5mm? Brass would be similar to nickel silver.
  6. I see, I didn't realise you were talking about punching the rivet holes in the reed tongue. I assumed you were planning to make brass tongues to match the originals, so drilling holes in them wouldn't be difficult. I agree that drilling tempered spring steel may be a problem. If making brass tongues I would be inclined to look for some way to temporarily clamp or glue the tongue in position over the slot while you drill the holes, then remove and fit the rivets.
  7. 1/16" (1.58mm) rivets are commonly available in the UK in brass, or steel. You'll probably need to shorten them. https://www.ekpsupplies.com/1/16-x-1/2-steel-rivets-qty-50.html https://www.ekpsupplies.com/1/16-x-1/2-brass-rivets-qty-50.html By punch, do you mean one that forms a head on the rivet? I once made one from a cheap nail punch by grinding a small hollow into the tip using a diamond-coated ball bit in a rotary tool.
  8. Interesting fretwork design. Does yours have aluminium reed frames too? The modern process for refining the metal was invented in 1886 and the first factory using the process opened in 1888. Prior to that it was very difficult and expensive to refine. If Lachenal was already experimenting with it by the 1890s that was a pretty innovative move. Initially they were probably using pure aluminium, which is quite soft and weaker than later alloys.
  9. Rounding the edges of the hole should help slightly, but enlarging it and fitting a bigger pad would be a better option if there is room to do so.
  10. I wouldn't worry that steel bolts are more likely to strip a brass insert than brass bolts. M2.5 should be strong enough to not strip as long as you don't overtighten them. Most vintage instruments have brass bolts that are about 2.2mm diameter with 2mm thick nut plates. I know some makers use knurled cylindrical inserts for end bolts, but the one time I tried it, the installation went wrong and I quickly went back to traditional flat nut plates. The problem I had was that the drill bit drifted slightly as I was drilling the holes for the inserts, so when I glued the inserts in they were all randomly slightly out of position and the tapped holes didn't line up properly with the clearance holes in the action box walls.
  11. Do you mean a maker who has stopped producing new G/Ds or a dealer who doesn't trade in second hand G/Ds? Either way doesn't make much sense to me. Maybe they are buying their reeds in from a third party that has a minimum order quantity or something.
  12. I wouldn't attempt to glue it other than as a temporary bodge. If you have a small lathe it's fairly easy to turn a new core (the plastic part) from Delrin and fit the original cap to it so the replacement is invisible from the outside. Any competent concertina maker who makes their own buttons should be able to do the job. The problem with sourcing a replacement rather than repairing the original is that it might not be exactly the same size/shape/material.
  13. Interestingly it looks like they cut a notch in the left wall of each chamber to provide extra clearance for the tip of the valve.
  14. I've just checked with him and he says he's still making instruments but is in the middle of designing a new website.
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