Stephen Selby

I have available reproductions of the "Lachenal & Co. Patent No. 4752. London." straps that were on some Lachenal McCann Duet concertinas made in the 1890s. The leather is 1.5mm and has been carefully selected to match the original. The gold blocking is done with modern gold blocking foil (not gold leaf). Price is US$35 (24 pounds Sterling) for a pair, inclusive of airmail postage worldwide. You can email me on srselby@atarn.org to order. Payment by PayPal. I will make a contribution to this site on sales.

Does anyone have information on the volume of manufacture of Lachenal's McCann Duets (Patent No. 4752)? I have number 1010 and I'm trying to date it. 46 buttons, rosewood ends, sold through Rushworth's of Liverpool.)

I suspect that making chords would drive you mad on that system. But you can get used to anything.

A nice example of 'Ambush Marketing'. A bit like 'Pepsi Cola -- Not the official sponsors of the Olympics.'

Easy Anglo 1-2-3 (Gary Coover) is a good book to start with. Takes you through 20 buttons and on to 30,

Nicx66, thanks. What conclusion should I draw from that?

May not be necessary. But I use Windsor and Newton 'Artists' Matt Varnish' thinned down. With an old instrument, I think it's nice to stain the papers lightly with black tea and varnish lightly.

Removing the leather on an EC is vital for getting at the pads and springs when they need servicing (because of the screw underneath). Only use a weak glue which can be easily removed.

You'll probably do better selling a Stagi by putting it on eBay.

Quote: 'Also available is the 26b rosewood C/G pictured in the "Plethora" post. It is a very nice player and has a new Peter O'Conner bellows with 6 deep folds and I've bushed the buttons.' Is it still available?

Thank you. That helps. On my instrument, the wood used for the ends and the pattern of the fretwork are identical to Fig. 1 of 'Some Notes...'. The difference I see is that the end of mine has a fancy chamfer and your is plainer. The leatherwork on mine is dark green. (Can't see the colour on yours.)

Thank you for the answer. Could I be forgiven for being confused? Was Lachenal still working for Wheatstone just before 1854? Did Case take it out of the shop and sell it to Mr Keith and Mr Prowse, who re-labelled it and sold it as his own?

I have a Keith Prowse English concertina (48, Cheapside) with brass reeds, serial number 5543. The label on the reed pan is Wheatstone at 20, Conduit Street. The action is very neat and looks like Lachenal construction with saddles as in the Wheatstone patent. I have attached some photos. Question: would it be a Lachenal reed pan even though it has a Wheatstone label? Or would Keith, Prowse have had one factory do the action and another the reed pan?

Thank you all for your contributions.

Bump?

Can anyone give an opinion on just what could be expected from the old, cheaper model Lachenals from the 1910-1920s? E.g., 20 button, brass reeds, stained pear (?) wood ends. Would they have been decent responsive instruments when they came out of the factory? I ask this while wondering how much effort should be put into repairing some old instruments.

Aybee: Ah! Crafty! I had assumed there were independent drilled holes for the ends of the rings and they were crimped in. Now I see that is not the case. Thanks

Is it hard to remove a rectangular strap retaining ring (photo) from the hand bar on an Anglo? Do the end pins go far in? I need to remove rotting hand straps (Lachenal gold stamped livery) so that I can send them intact to a bookbinder who will make new ones. But I find that the straps wont go back through the retaining ring without snapping. Advice, please?

David: agreed. After you cut out the individual papers, you need to go round the edges with a black marker pen. Not the end of the world. I'm meeting a local printer here next week who is keen to try to make papers using a stamped metal foil process, as you did. Interestingly, he says that he can only do the process using small sheets and he may be able to include the stamping out of the individual papers as part of the process. He does that for fancy wedding invitation cards that Chinese people use here.

Thanks for the info. on wad punches. What I'm actually interested in is punches that would allow me to make valves.

Jim Lucas. Seems the answer is 'nobody knows'. Everybody: has anyone got a source of leather punches for making valves in different sizes? I managed to get some nice thin leather scrap. It's black; but I see that Wheatstone was using black leather for valves in the 1950s.

I think version is better. Lachenal L Bellows Narrow Lines.pdf

Before you try printing from my sheet, wait while I make the lines narrower. See the comparison between my version and the original.

Ok. Just for discussion for the moment: I went to the art shop and bought Gold A4 printing paper (US15 cents a sheet.) In order for inkjet ink to take on the paper, the surface is slightly absorbent and is not shiny like gold leaf. I have taken a photo of the effect held (with bluetack) against the original. It would look better with a satin finish varnish. I need to narrow down the lines a bit. I'm also getting a quote from a wedding card printer for good quality gold on black printing. Now why isn't this forum allowing to upload a photo like I did last time??

Actually, I'm off to the art shop tomorrow to try to buy light weight gold A4 paper. I'll just try printing them onto gold paper with an ink cartridge printer and see how that looks. I'll let everybody know the result.