DavePraties

Many thanks All for such great advice. The fish glue/liquid hide makes much sense, with its reversible nature. Thanks also Dave for the tip about the overlap. I have tried to clean the leather overlap, and keep it undamaged to cope with just this problem. I have done this before a couple of times, but not for over 30 years, so I'm back to being a beginner! Dave.

Excellent, thanks Alex. I have both to hand, so will get going with one or other of them. Dave.

Hello All, I have embarked on replacing the chamois gasketing on a Lachenal duet. It was damaged in areas, and the bellows to end flat surfaces were completely compressed beyond any fluffing up. Would be interested to hear any advice from anyone who has done this, particularly the best glue to use - presumably one that does not soak into the chamois? Dave

Many thanks for this. Exciting to hear of vaudeville connections. How could I find more of this? What information have you that connects it to the Dixon brothers in Philadelphia? Would love to know more. Again, many thanks

Hello, Dowright, could I please trespass on your good nature and ask if you could give me a date for my two Lachenal concertinas? First one - 68key MacCann duet, no 2184. Metal ends and buttons, extended hexagon shape, steel reeds, radial reed pans. Second one - 55 key MacCann duet, no 1876. Riveted action, steel reeds, parallel reed pans, extended hexagon, metal buttons and ends, but ends not original. Inside is a picture of its owner and the written legend “ Harland and Rollison, musical grotesques” and a Bradford address. Very many thanks, Dave.( I have photographs of both if they were useful)

Hello, has any one spotted this one yet? What on earth is it? Not any kind of duet I have ever seen, but I am not an expert! D https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RARE-WHEATSTONE-DUET-AEOLA-72-Keys-AG-1926/173268894906?hash=item2857a184ba:g:qcMAAOSwDCxa0K-h

hola i think ive just started following you on instagram :-) I too do a lot of playing in a vehicle :-) Im probably going to get hung for this but..... I get the impression that in the UK at least many concertina players are, perhaps, of a generation that is not so familiar with the various social medias available. Well, I think that there is more to it than simple familiarity with social media. I work in a University, am of a certain age, but fully aware of available social media – we use it to attract, retain, and contact students. However, although I enjoy contact with others, I simply don’t want the all-pervading density of contact offered by such systems. In the same way, I love music but don’t, unlike most of our students, want it piped into my ears from waking to sleeping and beyond. I do not experience silence as an existential void to be feared and filled. Indeed, I fear the effect of stimulation density addiction on people’s ability engage in mature reflection on what they hear, be it words or music. Aaah, how nice to be old enough to refer to the sound byte generation in a smug and patronising way!

Anyone spotted this one? it looks like a piano keyboard variant. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Concertina/263342342431?hash=item3d506d411f:g:UmkAAOSwAHBaGAhH

Has any one seen this one? Who made it? https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/morphets-of-harrogate/catalogue-id-srmor10108/lot-f2b00ea1-ca46-4349-934b-a800012ddd99?utm_source=auction-alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=auction-alert&utm_content=lot-view-link

Hi Bill, Have emailed you off-forum. Cheers, Dave.

Hi Bill, Thanks for your reply. I think I could raise the ends, but I guess I would need to work out by how much, and in what way it would distort the shape. I may go to flat ends. Roughly what would the cost be, and what CAD drawing would you need? Best wishes, Dave

Ah, right, I understand. This is what I have always known as a hollow end mill, and are available from tool makers. Don't know if the exact size needed for concertina bolts is readily available though.

That sounds like a good piece of kit Theo, was it designed for Crabbs, or is it a known tool? Do you have drawings? Dave

Hi Alex, Really enjoyed your bolt-making article. One thing struck me though, I use a late from time to time and sometimes I turn fine shafts that flex under a cutting tool. How I have always fixed this is with a traveling steady, fixed to the back of the tool post, and which moves with the saddle. Each cut, you re-set it to support the next cut. I may have misinterpreted the problem, but it may be worth a try. Best wishes, Dave.

Dave, This is great mind-focussing advice. Thanks very much for it. Whilst I'm here, should I decide to replace the crude, non-original alluminium ends with Nickel silver ones, do we know of anyone who would laser cut them if I produced a CAD drawing? Should I roll the raised part around the buttons first, or after the cutting? Dave

Never thought of the reed pan deforming. I should have done, having seen plenty of age related shrinkage in wooden components. I'm certainly not going to try to correct that. I will build the ends to suit the bellows.

Hello Malcolm, Thanks for your reply. Untill you mentioned it, I stupidly hadn't thought about the reedpans. They fit fine and snugly, so a pointer, I guess, to the fact that the instrument has always been that shape. It is the bellows, complete with frames which are non-symetrical, and hence I guess, the whole instrument. It is not bad enough to be noticeable, just took me by surprise when I measured and drew the ends prior to reconstruction of the outer woodwork. This instrument has riveted action, and very good reeds, so I assume it was an up-market Lachenal. Were these instruments built around a mould, or freehand, do we know? Is lop-sidedness unusual? Regards, Dave.

An interesting problem has just come to light, and I would welcome any advice. The restoration of one of my large Lachenal MacCann duets necessitates replacing the entire outer moulding which holds the ends and fixes them to the action board. I decided to do this, as the existing woodwork, and indeed metal ends, are very clearly not original, and are very crudely made, and spoil the overall appearance quite a lot. I copied the moulding from another instrument, complex ebony/teak with lots of shaping and rebating. No problems though, until I began to make the former on which to glue it up into a frame, and found that the bellows are quite badly non-symmetrical. That is to say, each end is not a perfect hexagon, but has possibly moved out of kilter during its life, or probably during its poor repair. The bellows seem quite rigid though, are in fine condition and function very well. My inclination is running in the direction of building the ends to fit the bellows whatever their shape, rather than trying to straighten them up with the possible consequence of breaking glue lines and causing damage to the leather-work. What do the experts think? Any advice/musings welcome.

Hello All, I have begun to tune both my new Lachenal duets, and discovered a marked difference in the quality of the sound. The older (C 1885) with riveted action, sounds more powerful and strident, wheras tho newer, (C 1903), with standard Lach hook action, sounds good but is more mellow. Both steel reeded. Did Lachenal produce different qualities of reed for different instruments? I assume that the one with riveted action was a superior model?? The reeds in both instruments were in a similar condition, having very little rust. Dave

Just found this article. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40925742.pdf I may just be a geek, but I found it rather interesting!

Thanks to all for various replies, it is nice to know an approximate date. I have recently noticed that both my streched hexes are different. The older one has a bit more stretch than 2184. I need to get them together in the same room and compare them. (one is at work, one at home). The older one has larger reeds than the newer one, but is much the same physical size, though with fewer buttons I guess it could be a baritone? Neither are transposing instruments, ie, they both play in C. Were baritone maccanns of the stretched variety made?

Patrick, yes I think there is something in the theory that a speck of dirt seeds condensation and rust. Many decades ago when I did my first concertina tuning, I used to start by polishing the reeds with 1200 grit paper on a flat stick. I would not do it now because It is not in line with minimal impact restoration, but those polished reeds never got a speck of rust in years. Maybe that was because the instruments were better looked after, but did used to wonder if the polishing had the effect of which you spoke.

On the subject of stretched hexes, I bought one this week. (my second, I must beware of concertina acquisition syndrome). A Lachenal 68 key Maccann duet, Serial number 2184. It was advertised on this site last week, I made an offer and got it. It arrived today and is a lovely instrument with good restoration potential. The bellows are like new. The reeds are largely very good, with most having no rust at all. Strangely though, the very few which are rusted are on the inside, and have heavy-ish rust. One bent like paper and broke when I tried to sound it. How do we account for this - largely rust free, with the few having rust being heavily affected and on the inside? Dave

Hello All, Sory if this question is answered elswhere, but can any one point me to the date of manufacture of a Lachenal Maccann duet stretched hexagon number 2184? I just bought this one from Steve, a new member of this forum and am awaiting delivery. I have heard these stretched hexagons called "new model". Is that correct, and did this description included non stretched instruments? Thanks in advance, Dave.

Dear All, Thanks for various replies. Yes, Harland and Rollinson were a Music hall turn as you say Les, and between 1910 and 1920 worked the American vaudeville circuit, so the duet would no doubt have been there with them.. It has a good powerfull sound, the reeds are almost rust free and it plays slightly sharp of A440, but I will leave it there and just tune it to its self. Not much needs doing really apart form tuning and re-bushing the keys. The pads seem OK buttime will tell. it has clearly been well used, but also well cared for as you would expect with a pro's instrument. I think it has been stored for a long time though, the case is very dried and cracked. Fortunately the bellows are remarkably good and seem not to have suffered in any way. A puzzle is the metal ends. The fretwork is a little roughly executed, and the metal is alluminium. All signs though are that they are the originals. No change in button numbers has been made as suggested earlier. They are a little oxidised and scratched, but should polish nicely. All in all, I am really pleased with it. Dave