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Sprunghub

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Everything posted by Sprunghub

  1. I think these are really interesting - there was a one-side Crane on the market a while ago. I think the suggestion is that they were made for servicemen ( and presumably others ) who had lost an arm in conflict or accident.
  2. How did you effect the 'choke', Alex ? was it something solid ? I don't know if you have come across 'Mull'...it is a bookbinding material ? it's like a 'sized' or starched open(ish) weave, cotton gauze - typically what old books had down the spine. It's value is that is quite stiff. Stiff enough to 'fix' across the chamber or the 'inside' of the sound hole. It might be worth considering - I can let you have some if you want to try it.
  3. Hi Don, I have PM'd you..... RCR, pretty good detective work if you were looking at the previous owner and party who had the restoration work carried out at their behest, but not the current one, hence I do not live ( or have ever lived in Spalding ) and have not advertised it previously and that is not my 'thread' ?. A little knowledge as they say....
  4. Were it a cylinder head of comparable age - which I appreciate it isn't - you would put some wet & dry on a sheet of plate glass and fettle it flat - probably aided by some Engineers 'Blue'. Of course if you did that you'd almost certainly have to shim the slots.
  5. Is this 'elsewhere' on the Forum ?
  6. Purely with regard to the posting issue from GB to USA, I have sent two packages to the USA from the Uk recently, a Concertina and a Concertina sized parcel. The first was collected by FedEx on a Friday morning and arrived at it's USA destination on the Monday. The second was collected on a Monday late morning here in the West Country and was delivered to it's recipient in Maryland at about 7.30pm the NEXT DAY! That is quicker than post from our next village arrives with us. On the other hand, a parcel coming this way with USPS arrived at Heathrow last Thursday and has gone into a Covid-19 shaped Black Hole. I don't know who Chris Algar uses but I would certainly trust FedEx to get it there.
  7. Just wondering, given these strange times, is there anyone based in Germany who would be prepared to "send on" a parcel for me. It is an Ebay option, seller will let me bid/buy, but not post to the Uk. I can never quite understand why given that they use the same carrier that would bring it to me and I would be paying all costs but, hey ho. They will post to a German address. I can organise collection and pay all costs my end if anyone might be able to help. The label would be forwarded via email. No need to 'risk' unpacking etc, just apply new label and await collection. It may not come off if I don't win, but it's too late to ask the other way around! I have recently received an item via DHL, so there is no problem with it getting through. Hand washing and distancing advised.
  8. I have 'backed' leather straps with suede. Mark L-A sells them backed.....it's quite nice ( if nice is your thing ) not padded per se but comfy and arguably 'holds' to the back of the hand better than bare leather ? Plenty of sources for no money on Ebay in multi colours. Bookbinders glue does a good job of connecting suede to leather. For long line cutting I use a simple Rotary Cutter. I'd like one of those lovely half moon blades but I suspect I would have my fingers off.
  9. The vendor has a fairly healthy history ( in feedback ) of selling "nice", mid value £2k and above value Concertina's, which may provide some reassurance. When I was first looking for a Concertina for my wife initially I found an on-line selling site akin to Gumtree/Preloved based in southern Africa which had a lot of Wheatstone's. They were marginally outside my pocket, although several sellers were happy to post. There were quite a few very nice ones about, albeit mostly those 1950's ones which folk know about as having been produced for the market. The market was presumably there before the '50's, so no surprise some good ones were in circulation.
  10. In support of the idea that it is a form of rudimentary porting and helping air-flow to the larger reed chambers, is it the case that Jeffries action boards - by the standards of the time - are thicker than some ( most ) Makers and may have benefited from this small modification. From my very limited experience inside Concertina's it seems to me they may have used a heavier grade of material.
  11. It is in A / E, ( not Ab/Eb ) A=444hz, Society of the Art's tuning.
  12. This is the left hand....I think there could be some logic in suggesting it is - in part, to assist the low note starting by 'porting' the inlet to speed up and flow the air. Trying to mirror the image in my hand/head I think those chamfers on the right hand side are (among) the lowest reeds on that side. A similar case applies on the 'left'.
  13. Anyone familiar with tuning older motorcycle engines, particularly two-strokes, will have come across 'porting', smoothing/speeding air flow on the way in ( and out ) of the combustion chamber. The chamfer on the pan appeared to me - not knowing much about concertinas ,to be an effort in the particular 'world' of Jeffries ideas, with their specific reeds, valve shape and pad 'saddles', to be yet another innovation in seeking 'marginal gains' in performance.
  14. A couple of things spring to mind, from my inexpert research, "stamps"/impress marks in Jeffries are pretty uncommon, serial numbers per se non existent with pencil seeming to be the 'marker' of choice for fettlers. Whatever, using what appears to have been a 'dip' pen and bottled ink for writing on dry wood seems to be a 'Doh' ! moment by someone. It would have 'bled' like that pretty instantly one would have thought ? My such 'Doh' moments marking wood always have. You wouldn't have thought a 'Maker' would do that ? Below are the ink 'stamped' marks in mine which surprised me in the finding.
  15. I'd be interested to hear Mike or Theo's thoughts on the bellows on this instrument. Now, the ones on Mikes may be replacements - Theo would presumably know - but I have a 39k Anglo which has plain, black, un-gilded bellows, without papers, which those who have seen it suggest are of a typical Jeffries quality and potentially original. Mine is in that 'odd' A/E tuning.
  16. I have.....but......there is a bit of a 'tale' to that, I have a pal who lives pt time / works in the States and who I thought it would be good to get to bring them home with him to save me the postage which (a) it did and (b) he did.....except he was there "weeks" after he got it, because it was the run up to Xmas. I should have just paid for letter post. As for quality, I would say, it is pretty "exemplary". Their ordering process is 'quaint' ( which suits me ) in a world of instant, high tech "on-line" shops, Darlene takes your order via an email and then sends an invoice back for you to pay once they have put it up. You do still need to ascertain the 'direction' of the grain/stretch in the leather, as you would anyway. It may be the along the 'longer' or shorter length. You can not take it for granted that it is longways.
  17. On advice from a successful Uk artisan, I used Columbia Organ's Leathers. I bought the H, XH & Valve in their 12" x 6" approx panels. The XH & Valve were most useful......you could utilise the H for pad facing. It is excellent, they are very good to deal with. There is enough leather in their panel's to do several instruments. A concern that the 'panels' might be lower quality "off-cuts" was not evidenced. It just appears to be a sensible volume for non-pro's and smaller instruments. It was for a Jeffries who were obviously innovators because they used straight lines! to that end I used a Rotary cutter and ruler as opposed to worrying about long oval's with reducing width.
  18. As someone who only plays the Crane, it was this article that attracted me, as a non-musician who wanted to play some folky, simple "tunes" and sing a bit over the top. It inspired me to get stuck in.....and in due course get a larger one to do exactly what I do on the 35k one ! albeit with many more missed notes and tangles of fingers. Cranes make such good sense to a (still) non musician/beginner. http://craneconcertina.com/35key.html Not sure why that doesn't link.....cut & paste does....
  19. Hi Stephen.....the Forum seems very quiet, so, as probably the least qualified person to offer advice, I'll plump for 39key(button) McCann Duet. Sadly, of all the concertina family, this particular model seems to be one of the least loved of the 'old'/originals.
  20. I used the 1.5mm Poly felt from this company for the Jeffries re-furb. It replicated the thickness of the original material. https://www.woolfeltcompany.co.uk/ I found Pinflair Bookbinding Glue very good at bonding card to felt to leather.
  21. From days of vintage fishing tackle handling / Bakelite research, albeit via the more modern medium of I/net research..... This 'mock' shell is possibly a form of bakelite given the age profile ? "To determine whether an item is tortoise shell or Bakelite, there is another noninvasive step that does not require the destruction of any materials. Since Bakelite is formed of formaldehyde, if you simply rub your fingertips over the surface of the questionable substance quite hard until it begins to feel very hot, if the substance is Bakelite, you should be able to smell the acrid odour of formaldehyde clearly on your fingertips."
  22. This is the local Gloss-tur-shur listing for Folk Clubs / Gigs / Events....you can work out which Clubs will be 'on' when you are here as they roll month on month. The diary will fill closer to the time. http://www.glosfolk.btck.co.uk/
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