Theo

You might be able to contact the maker through this earlier discussion

B & W Type 2000 case, unused and in new condition apart from being a but dusty. It includes a full foam filling with is pre-cut so you can make a cavity to suit the contents. For concertina it would be better to block it internally to hold the instrument. Internal dimensions (see photo) 247 x 175 x 153.8mm which makes it slightly too small for a standard 6 1/4″ instrument which is 158.8mm across flats. Would suit a small size concertina. Price £20 + £6 UK delivery.

The busing felt I use came from Fletcher & Newman. Leather - you might fond something suitable from Pittards in Yeovil. They do a very good mail order service, or you can browse the skins in the showroom. I use their goatskin for repairs.

Good advice above. I would avoid pea glue because in future someone may want to replace the papers again and pva will make them harder to remove. Also - you should remove the old papers first.

Clicking can come from any part of the mechanism that is poor quality, worn, or badly adjusted.. On a metal ended instrument it can be the side of the button contacting the edge of the hole in the metal end plate, which usually only happens on an old instrument when the end bushings are worn. Lachenal action can sometimes click if the levers are worn or the spring pressure is too low Riveted action can click if there is wear at the rivets. Badly adjusted levers may hit the underside of the end frets if the button travel is too great. etc, etc

It might be all sorts of things, a faulty glue joint below the block the reeds sit on is another possibility. I would endorse the earlier suggestions of going back to the supplier if that is possible. If you are too far away then an accordion repairer will be familiar with this type of reed.

Some examples from John Dipper of handles supplied with his anglos http://www.johndipper.co.uk/concertinas/fittings.htm

I meant to ask if you have you designed the ergonomic handle that you would like to have made? There are many possibilities.

You can solder the missing top back on, but I've found you ned to used silver solder to get a strong bond. I think those in your picture are actually sterling silver tops. If they are nickel tops I have a supply of nickel silver discs punched during the manufacture of Shaw whistles. Dave Shaw the maker is a friend.

Do you have a design?

The second concertina, with metal buttons, appears to have had work done recently. The red felt bushes round the buttons look new, and the thumbstraps look fairly new too, and looking through the fretwork I can see new looking pads. It is quite likely to have had a recent full overhaul. The other one is a lower quality instrument and appears to be unrestored.

It's a standard process among accordion tuners to work on the reeds in situ. I tune both accordion and concertina reeds. For accordion reeds you need a one file for raising the pitch, a scratcher for lowering pitch, and a reed lifting tool to lift the underside reed to where you can work on it. There is a bit more to it than that, and I recommend practicing on some old reeds of little value, otherwise you may end up damaging expensive new reeds.

You might also come across hybrids by UK makers AC Norman, or Marcus in your price range.

Voice Armoniche will probably not deal with you. They like big orders for multiple sets of reeds. For Carini just draw up your reeds spec and send them an email. You can spend hours on their website and make little progress! They are generally very helpful.

Rather than dealing with reed makers direct you would find it easier to deal with Carini. There is a link on their home page to register as a new user. They are accordion parts wholesalers, and keep reeds in stock form several Italian reed makers. I've always found them helpful though sometimes slow to reply. They communicate well in English. You also need to learn how to specify the reeds you want. Italian makers have a numerical system for specifying the pitch of each reed. This has middle C as 15 and goes up or down by one number pre semitone, so C# is 16, D 17 etc and C above middle C is 27, C# 28 etc. I usually draw up a table showing the note name, and the code number.