alex_holden
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Everything posted by alex_holden
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Yes, lead based solder is still easily available in the UK.
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I've made a new octagonal English design: http://www.holdenconcertinas.com/?p=380
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Thanks for the advice, Dana. Good news about the Dymond wood! I guess the problem with tarnishing of brass/bronze reed tongues is that the extra mass of the oxide layer makes them go out of tune? I was considering using either aluminium bronze or naval brass for the reed shoes, assuming I can source some sheet in the right thickness. -
5-Fold Bellows On An Anglo
alex_holden replied to Daddy Long Les's topic in General Concertina Discussion
If you bought a good 5-fold instrument and after playing it for a while you decided the air supply was too limiting, you could always have a restorer fit a larger set of bellows. -
The impression I got from discussions on harmonica forums is that phosphor bronze and stainless steel reeds are both more durable than brass, but opinions differ as to whether PB lasts longer than SS or vice versa. The amount of attention paid to profiling and tuning makes a difference to longevity too (some harmonica tuners go so far as to polish the reeds to eliminate any scratches where a fracture could begin). PB would almost certainly be easier to hand profile and tune than SS because it's a lot softer.
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Sorry, yes, it does appear that they are using stainless for the reeds as well as the casing.
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Thanks for the suggestion Dana; unfortunately I don't know of a UK supplier of Dymondwood other than tiny pieces for pen turning and knife scales. I did a bit of research into resin impregnation of wood - apparently it's possible to DIY but it requires a vacuum chamber and possibly a curing oven. I think for this project though I'd rather stick to materials I can get hold of easily. Nylon screws: like your out of the box thinking, but I'm not a fan of them, particularly in smaller sizes, because in my experience they strip easily and the heads get chewed up if you so much as look at them funny. Any thoughts on the use of stainless spring steel for the reed tongues? I understand there is a harmonica manufacturer who uses it, and players seem to like it apart from it being much more difficult than brass to retune. Phosphor bronze may be another possibility if I can find the right kind as shim stock...
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Interesting, how did it turn out and would you use it again? Did you need to apply any kind of surface finish?
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The Neanderthal Vs. The English Concertina
alex_holden replied to Bullethead's topic in Teaching and Learning
Well done! Doing great for only a week's practice. -
Interesting, thanks Pete.
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Can't Paste Or Quote
alex_holden replied to Bullethead's topic in Forum Questions, Suggestions, Help
Can you try a different browser, e.g. Chrome or Firefox? -
We talked about it among other options and Matt wasn't as keen on the weight and appearance of stainless. It's also considerably more difficult to machine. I'm planning to start with fairly thick plates, round over the corners of the top, and relieve most of the underside except where we need extra strength. A good aluminium alloy is pretty strong, and anodising will protect the surface. An early idea that we moved away from was to start with 1" thick aluminium plates and hollow out most of the inside like a 'unibody' Macbook Pro.
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So it sounds like with anodising on the aluminium, lacquer on the CF, and some sort of plastic or rubber gasket between the two, we may still be OK. The instrument only has to cope with humidity and an occasional rain shower, not total submersion in seawater. We were planning to use titanium end screws anyway, plus they could be sleeved with a tube of something non-conductive like acetal where they pass through the soundboard (the nuts will be embedded in the acrylic bellows frames). I think using titanium for the end plates would probably be overkill! This message brought to you with the assistance of a very purry cat head-butting my hands and drooling on the keyboard.
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Thanks, I wasn't aware of this problem. Back to the drawing board again...
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Thanks Jim, the Kirinite sounds interesting. This looks like it might a possibility: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KIRINITE-Tortoise-Shell-1-8-1-5-x-6-Scales-for-WoodWorking-Knife-Making-/181880380540
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OK, cool, that would be pretty nice. It looks a bit like artificial tortoiseshell. I'll see if I can track down something similar in vinyl.
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Amazing what they managed to do with the translucent variety.
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I'm wondering if I correctly understand what you mean by Bakelite - to me it's a smooth cast thermoplastic that usually comes in plain terracotta, black, white or ivory. Very occasionally I've seen antiques with a sort of mottled brown pattern: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite#/media/File:Bakelite_radio.jpg I tend to agree; at least we know that a good quality goatskin will stand up to many years of playing if we can manage to stop it rotting. Do the locals have any advice to offer about preventing mildew on leather goods - presumably it's a common problem?
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From previous discussions on the forum, it seems the soundboard in a concertina has a different effect on the sound from that of a string instrument, acting more as a filter than a resonator, and a soundboard with a hard surface might produce a harsher tone. I've been wondering if I might need to add some sort of baffle to counter the effect if it ends up too harsh. Of course we're going to have the same problem as Jake: this is such an unusual instrument that if it ends up sounding unlike a traditional concertina, we won't know which of its many non-traditional materials and design features are causing the difference(s).
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Interesting. The second one looks like oil floating on water, or maybe cells under a microscope.
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Thanks for the suggestion Lars. I think with either construction style it is the gussets that are going to be the most likely point of failure due to the material needing to remain airtight while constantly stretching/bending in more than one direction. I'm interested to have a play with the artificial bellows tape - perhaps it could be used for the hinges and top run of a concertina-style bellows?
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Interesting, it's long been a mystery to me how they get away with labelling that stuff as 'genuine leather'! It's like labelling an MDF cupboard 'made from genuine wood'.
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I've repaired them in a couple of different ways: the first ones I turned a stainless steel plug and glued it into the hole with cyanoacrylate. Later when some more fell off, I roughly cut out oversized disks of nickel-silver with a jeweller's saw, soft soldered them on, cleaned up the rough edges with a file, then spun them up in the lathe and finished them off with fine sandpaper and metal polish. A drill press would work if you don't have a lathe. The replacement nickel-silver caps blend in perfectly with the originals while the stainless ones look slightly too bright, but you would only notice if you were looking very closely.
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Thanks for the information about the bellows, Jim. I'll discuss them with Matthew. I had to look up Garolite: I know it as FR-4, the type of fibreglass used as the substrate for better quality PCBs. I agree, not very nice stuff to work with, and be careful not to breathe the dust! IME only carbide tools will stand up to it for long.
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I think the cost of tooling up to mould one-piece polymer bellows is going to be out of the question for this project. What we're wondering is: does anyone know of a sheet material with properties that are close enough to leather to replace it in a traditionally constructed bellows without being prone to rotting in a tropical climate? Or perhaps a way to treat/coat leather bellows (inside and out) that would offer better protection, even if it came at the cost of slightly reduced flexibility? Edit: maybe something like this would help? http://www.wolfschemicals.com/en/termek/wl-2n---nano-leather-sealant--