rcr27

I’m wondering if someone has ever made an accordion with concertina reeds? That’d be interesting to hear.

Looks nice! Where can I get that hand strap screw shown on the 2nd photo?

It was definitely the wrecked wad punch that was causing the problem. Just gave it a good sharp with the dremel and happy days! (Photo shows the original ones, dodgy attempt, and final attempt). I’m wondering if pads shrink with age?

Is that the eyelet machine? I have bought that hand press as well with the purpose of making pads instead of using a mallet but I can’t quite find the right way of doing so.

I tried that but I find it to be a lot harder and less precise in my opinion.

It’s probably that the punch is not sharp enough, any ideas on how to sharpen it? Only few of my pads have come out well round, the rest tend to delaminate on the edges. I bought some pads from ebay but they are too big for my concertina hence I’m trying to make my own. I found that the card used on these is a lot stronger than the card I’m using, could that be the problem as well?

Where can I find one like that online? Is there any on ebay? I can never get a perfect circle with the card that I’m using... I use a wad punch and a steel mallet, and punch against wood. The felt and the leather come out well in shape but the card just looks horrible on the edges.

Thank you alex_holden I will have a go at making mine.

I’m wondering if it’s possible to add some sort of padding to the leather and make it kind of like a padded accordion strap, has anyone tried that before?

Great thank you, and what knife or scalpel do you use to cut the strap out of the leather with such precision?

Thank you, do you cut the leather with a scalpel or do you use some special knife/leather cutter? I have bought the creaser/groover tool to crease the edges on my english thumb straps: https://www.ebay.com/itm/7PCS-Leather-Craft-Tool-Edge-Stitching-Groover-Creaser-Beveller-Punch-Sewing-Set/401912998301?pageci=b9abfa2b-c873-43d8-a83c-52d3422a727d I’m guessing that’s the one. I’ve seen that you stamped your name on your straps, what tool did you use for that?

Thank you! By the way, is the thickness the same for all 3? (Anglo english and duet)

I have ordered a full set of spares from my anglo from Mark back in January, unfortunately I have not yet received them. I emailed him 2 or 3 twice but still no reply whatsoever...

I’m thinkig about making my own leather straps for both anglo and duet concertina (and might as well make a pair for my english one). What is the best leather type to use? Does the comfort depend on the thickness of the leather? Thanks

Just found that Wim Wakker advertised an amboyna EC Edeophone few years ago: How rare is that!? I can only assume Lachenal didn’t make many of these with the fear that they would roll and fall of the table! (not uncommon with Edeophones really) Who knows...

No idea as I don’t own it and neither have I owned a tenor treble or baritone before so I couldn’t tell from the photo (All I know is that they are big!). I guess judging by the size of it it must have large reeds, so perhaps a baritone?. I own an Edeophone duet 63 key which is obviously bigger than the standard Edeophone English size and has very low notes on the left side (can’t remember what the lowest notes are), wouldn’t that fit into the tenor treble/baritone range? It’s known that Lachenal made a LOT more concertinas than Wheatstone, so no reason to think why they wouldn’t experiment with different octave ranges.

I have seen big size English Edeophones such as this one below. I assume it’s a baritone treble, not sure about bass Edeophones.

Lovely tina I wish I could afford one of these. I was wondering if the ends have been sanded with sandpaper?

Thanks I will, I’d imagine they have pad material too.

Yes it’s s a scam

Oh I see, that kinda lets me down a bit. I would have bought all my valves from concertina-spares.com but unfortunately it takes too long as Mark Adey is I’ll I think. I ordered some spares in January and still haven’t received it, hence I’m forced to look elsewhere and make my own materials. I have 4 concertinas which need new pads & valves and want to get them done asap, but I don’t want to risk and use cheap material either. Thanks anyway.

Yes I’m aware, but when I’m replacing the valves on the chamber side, the valves on the opposite will start to curl, so it has to be a problem of valve material in this case. My concertina is a Wheatstone English that comes in its original leather hard case.

That looks great, I need to make pads too. As long as the leather is good quality and doesn’t curl, it will do. Have you ordered from them? I see that they are located in the US, I wonder how long the delivery takes.

I used small sharp scissors. I removed the original valves (one at a time), and outlined it’s shape with a pen on the leather hide (hairy side), and then gently cut it. My other concertinas which are already restored (not by me) have slightly wider valves, but I preferred to keep the same width and length as the original valves.

Thanks a lot! I’ll have a look