Rod Pearce

I would be interested to know how people achieve a consistent 'skive' across the width of the leather using a knife. I use a knife ( the one Theo describes above) with acceptable results to skive the edges of the workpiece, but less success with the rest. Gussets are easier, but trying to get the bindings to a consistent thickness is hit and miss. I don't use a Scharf fix as I cant get on with it. I have to admit that I had my leather thinned by K Baggs Trimming of Poole, Dorset to get a conistent thickness across the hide before I started working with it, so I only had to worry about the edges of each workpiece. Out of interest, do people us the word 'skive' when they mean 'thin'or 'split'?

Is it possible to swap a loud reed with a quieter reed and see if there is any change of volume? If the quieter reed becomes louder, it may point to some of the characteristics of the chamber being the problem. Rod

Do you have a copy of Dave Elliot's Concertina Maintenance manual? It covers these sorts of topics very well.

I assume you are only planning to put the fabric on the inside of the bellows, not the outside. i have used the Tedrow method for making bellows, and used pre-gummed cambric tape for the hinges No messy glues necessary, just lengths of the tape wetted with water. Have you considered trying this? It comes on a roll Gummed Linen Hinging Tape - 25mm x 9M L533-1025 Preservation Equipment Ltd https://www.preservationequipment.com/ Rod

I have just found out that Pittards of Yeovil went into aministration in September and the business is now closed. Very disappointing news as I sourced all my bellows leather from the company and found them very helpful. Rod

See his Ebay listings https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/sandylaneman?_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2559

Typo

Irina Other that Jurgen Suttner, I cannot find anyone else in Germany. How far are you from Molenbeersel/Kinroo, Belgium? In the list linked below there is a maker listed -Harry Guens. Or how contacting one of the UK repairers listed? I don't know if the list is up to date https://www.concertina.info/tina.faq/conc-mak.htm

To post an image, open the reply box, and drag your image to it by left-clicking on it in the folder it is stored in without taking your finger off, and let go of the mouse button to drop it in the message. Or use the .Choose files. link on the screen. Hope this makes sense.

Mike I bought this bushing felt, sold by the Piano Accessory Shop, I went for the 0.85mm thickness. https://www.pianoaccessoryshop.co.uk/product/bushing-cloth-strips-0-85mm-1-8mm-for-flange-keys/ Currently priced on their website for £15.95 – £17.95 Description Strip of Red Bushing Cloth for for flanges and key bushing in grand and upright pianos Colour: Red Size of set: 75 mm X 915 mm Thickness and Application: 0.8mm – Flange 1.00mm – Flange 1.3mm – Flange/ Key 1.5mm – Key 1.8mm – Key Rod

Am I missing something here? In my experience the screw that holds the thumbstrap in place on an English locates inside a wooden pillar between the end and the action board. So I would have expected that to have failed and either need to be removed / replaced, or plugged. If the pillar is still glued to the action board, I would fashion a thin plug from something like a cocktail stick and glue it into the hole in the pillar.The thumbstrap screw would them fit snugly inside again. If the pillar itself has failed replace it or re-glue it.

The restoration of the instrument doesn't phase me, but the reeds look pretty bad. Are they Brass frames with steel tongues? Are they salvageable? Rod

Clive I think the instrument deserves a chance, so I am intending to rebuild it. All the pieces are there, if I can remove the rusted screws from the ends! I believe some of the reeds can be saved so I intend to reuse them if possible, but I will need to find a number of replacements, brass this time!

Stephen In addition to my original post, the description of 189665 you have is correct - spindle cut, 5 fold bellows. If by 'full' you mean solid ends. that would also appear to be correct. I attach some pictures of the ends and bellows in the condition I received the instrument. The bellows were too far gone and have since been discarded. I have almost finished de-rusting the reeds - about 7 or 8 have tongues that are rusted through or have already broken and most of the frames have been pitted by the rust. Its too early to say how many can be saved for re-use, but I would guess less than half. Good luck with your exercise. Best regards Rod

Unfortunately, this is one of the better ones!

The Evapo Rust has been delivered and I have tried it on the first reed. Initially, as per the instructions, I fully immersed the reed in the liquid and left it for about an hour. I took it out and gave it a quick clean with a rag. The surface rust came off very easily but the heavy corrosion was still solid. So I put it back in the liquid and left it for the 24 hours as per instructions. This time I scraped the surfaces with a fine blade and removed the majority of the rust. Then I used some very fine wet and dry all over, even in the slot and tongue. Afterwards I tried getting a note from the reed by sucking it and after a bit of adjustment it sounded, albeit somewhat muted.😀 I am pleasantly surprised at how well the Evapo Rust has worked, but I am not convinced the reed is viable given the amount of rust damage there was. I would think lightly rusted reeds would make a much better recovery. 59 reeds to go - some worse, some better😵 See before and after pictures attached

Alex, Clive Thank you. I have ordered some Evapo Rust and will see how that goes Rod

David, Paul Thank you for the feedback. I have managed to extract the reed pans from the ends, and the reeds on the outer sides are just as bad (not looking forward to the lever arms, but I do have some spares of those). I have had a go at one reed using very fine wet and dry paper. It has come up surprising well and I can even get a muted note from it. Unfortunately a lot of the other reeds are in a worse condition. Once I have removed them from the pans (no mean feat by the look of it) I am considering soaking them in a wet solution (white vinegar, bicarbonate of soda paste) to loosen before using some steel wool or similar abrasive that I have to hand. If that doesn't work I will buy a fibreglass pen and try that. This was never a good quality instrument by the look of it, so it will never be a 'silk purse'. But if I can get it back to a playable standard without spending lots of money it will be worthwhile. Ros

I have just been passed a recently acquired instrument for possible renovation. It is effectively a complete rebuild - bellows beyond repair, broken and cracked reed pans and ends, etc. It has obviously been kept in a damp environment as the reeds themselves are heavily rusted. Serial number is 189665. The reed frames themselves are also rusted - this is a surprise to me as I didn't realise that the frames themselves can be made from steel, as I have only seen brass frames to date. I can only see the inner reeds because the action box screws are also heavily rusted (bellows have been removed). I am reasonably comfortable with the rebuild itself. However the reeds are a different story (pictures attached). Given the amount of rusting, are they worth trying to save? If so, what would be the best approach to minimise long term damege? I would appreciate your advice. Regards Rod

Contact Mark Lloyd-Adey of Concertina Spares https://concertina-spares.com Try contacting him by phone first, as he doesn't always get to his email. This is from his 'Contact Me' page Contact me Either by email: mark@concertina-spares.com By telephone – from 10.00am – 6.00pm – 01650511888 (Sat and Sun I may be out – do leave a message) By post – Mark Lloyd-Adey. Bodfan, Cemmaes, Machynlleth, Powys, SY20 9PR.

Does Jones use any identification marks for Steel Reeds?

Thank you, Stephen.

Can anybody tell me what the 'Metal Reeds' stamp on the end of a Jones 20b concertina refers to - Brass or Steel? Thanks, Rod

Yes Alex, I think you are right. Never noticed it before

I have just had a brief look at the Pano Tuner website, and the display only seems to show the note value and frequency (eg A and 440.0 hz). Other tuners also show how many cents the note being sounded is above or below the required pitch I believe this is what Alex is referring to, and it seems cents is not available on that tuner. Bill the farmer tuner does appear to show cents, so I suggest you use that one if you are familiar with it. When you sound the note it will show you what note it is nearest to and how many cents above or below that note it is. You are looking to get it to as near as 0 cents as possible, So Sound the reed Look at what the tuner says the note is and how far above/below pitch it is in cents. Tune the reed up or down and re-sound until you get as near as you can to 0 cents. Does this make sense?