Andy Holder

PVA glue is made from polyvinyl acetate, not polyvinyl alcohol. Of course it is. I was being stupid. It was confirmed when I read on the label of a new bottle of Feibing's Leathercraft Cement that it "contains vinyl acetate". So basically it's just thin PVA!

Perfect Henrik, where do you find these clips? What do you imagine that white glue is that she's using on the bellows?

Light bulb moment! Watching the video made me realise why the big air hole in the English reed pan is off centre! My goodness that man was brilliant! Andy

Wowee! What a fantastic response. And thank you for the video link. I've always been fascinated by specialist machines and during the 70's and 80's made a few myself. I made an 8' x 4' open frame XY CNC router, controlled by a BBC Micro, which drilled a criss cross pattern of 2,000 holes in plastic sheets. They then had nylon loops stitched into them and became a portable dry ski slope! The customer didn't sell many, partly due to the fact that the nylon would take fingers off if you fell on it! I also made an automatic machine that fed squares of thin ply from a hopper onto a turntable and then cut them into circles and drilled lots of holes round the edge - Cane basket bases, we made 40,000 of them. Suffice to say that I feel a semi-automatic reed pan machine coming on. Very exciting! Any orders? Cheaper if you buy 100! Andy

I'm just in the middle of de-tuning an English Lachenal and each time I push a reed frame back into its housing, I marvel at the precision of the dovetail slot. Does anyone know how they originally cut those slots? I'm guessing they didn't have high speed routers like we do today and yet they can't have been chiselled, much too time consuming. Perhaps they were rotary cutters, geared off a central shaft running through the factory? Are there any pictures of the factory working? Andy.

I, too, am using Bob's fantastic instructions. However, some of my measurements are in those really small bits, millimetres! I'm going to try the Titebond Liquid Hide Glue as I've always found the original titebond to be excellent. I have just bought a lovely hide of pneumatic leather 0.6mm and I don't want to waste a bit of it. I'm trying to sort out a reasonably cheap way of skiving it without the expense of Bob's wonderful machine. Trouble is, I haven't yet got the skill for manual skiving. Andy

Wow Wes, that is dedicated. I might have a go at that. Is that Ball, as in Farrow and Ball?

Hi Theo. It's not an over zealous thing with me, but I do my gluing in the dining room, with the glue pot on the Rayburn and Julia doesn't like me boiling up dead animals! I do wear leather shoes and occasionally eat a delicious lamb casserole. I have an alcohol problem so can't use anything with alcohol in the title (PVA). I'm going to look at fish glue though! Incidentally, joking aside, I've just glued some linen round the outside edges of a bellows with pearl glue and 30% of it didn't stick. Too cool? not enough glue? too much glue? Andy.

Lee Valley Tools (Canadian, but with international online catalogue sales) stocks "Veritas" fish glue. Not exactly vegetarian, but it is an excellent, reversible substitute for hide glue, and is ready to use from the bottle. No smell. I use it for fine furniture restoration work. Excellent Bill, I'll check that out. I'm also a keen sailor so anything fishy is good!

However, it has to be said, you don't play the piano with alternate hands up the scale - touché!

Many of those being familiar with an "Ebony and Ivory" keybord (or some sheet music) might feel and judge much different: you get black and white keys, lines and spaces, thirds and fiths... I know, I was going to say that! But could you possibly imagine playing the piano and harmonica at the same time? Yikes!

Thanks Jim. an interesting thread, quite tongue in cheek, though.

Thanks for that. I was wondering about the original Titebond, which I use all the time for furniture.

Hi Nisse. If you instinctively feel good with the Harmonica, you should be able to play an Anglo almost straight out of the box, it's practically the same instrument However, I found the English, which I bought to try an accompany my fiddle playing partner, is a complete nightmare from hell! If I was told to sit down with a paper and pencil and design an instrument which is the least intuitive, most awkward and difficult to understand layout, then an English Concertina is what I'd come up with! That's only my opinion though Andy.

The 'Western Gazette' of 24 November suggests that the Laurences Auctioneers 'Jeffries' bidding reached £4,060 ....'from collectors'. Hope the purchaser was more than a mere collector ! Was that an intentional pun Rod? I live in Mere, Wiltshire, so I suppose I'm a "mere collector". Incidentally, we often finish a meal with a Mere Trifle!

Hi there. Why use the old gussets. You can get pneumatic leather quite cheaply. Wouldn't it save you lots of work and make a better job to use the old one as a pattern and cut new ones? Andy

Hi Nisse. I have been restoring instruments for a little while now. I have by no means got as much experience with reeds as Chris but I have been a woodworker and cabinet maker for 25 years. I would be happy to talk about a refurb of an eBay box. The problem, as with any historic item is how much to conserve and how much to restore. Do you preserve the patina or do you make it look like new? Only the owner can decide. Andy.

I have found that when you're cutting thin strips of leather, especially thin and soft stuff, it's a whole lot easier to use a rotary cutter than a craft knife. Also much easier to get straight lines than scissors. Andy

Helle all. I'm just embarking on making my first instrument, a 3 row anglo. I've nearly finished the bellows (I figured I'd start with one of the hard bits first). I have been using hide glue, with all its accompanying smells and difficulties. I've now started thinking, my wife's vegetarian, my daughter's vegetarian, I'm hovering on the brink of being vegetarian, my workshop's in the house and this stuff stinks! Does anyone know of any serious, sophisticated 21st century adhesives that would do the job (I don't mean PVA!) Are Aliphatics too rigid? Does Cascamite, which is an extremely brittle glue, like hide glue, behave in the same way? What about modified polymers? Any ideas? I'm starting to see the faces of the terrified animals as they file into the abbatoir! Thanks Andy.

You're right Alex, I did my sums wrong. I'm sure there were many bidders from far afield interested in it. You're also right about the attic, I'm not holding my breath! Cheers Andy

Hello all. I have recently tried to go for 2 Jeffries anglos locally. The first was in Lawrences Auctioneers in Crewkerne, Somerset. Guide price £500-£700. I know that was a silly estimate but the bidding started at £2,100 and, within 15 seconds sold for £3,400. With the commission and VAT that's £4,746. Last week there was another in Charterhouse in Sherborne that sold for £4,200. With commission that's nearly 6 grand! As far as I could see from the picture, they both needed work. Who's buying them at these prices? I've given up any idea of ever getting a Jeffries now, short of finding one in a charity shop for £100! I guess we have the power of the internet to thank, which means everything finds its own level. Any thoughts?