Jack Bradshaw

I have one just like that (but now in many small pieces) #195141.....brass shoes w/ steel reeds...but I didn't get handrests w/ it! Sure look like Lachenal parts though.... Jack

Sounds great ! But, where are the MacCanns (Mccanns) ??

This is the result of trying to learn Anglo or English. Bought by mistake, refurbed by The Button Box, unable to be sold....and eventually the one I seem to be able to play....Go Figa ! Still in high pitch at this point...but then.....

Maccan duet anyone??? Now you're talkin' some sense !

Well, mine is sort of poking along (30-button Anglo now, but probably wind up as a MacCann). I was planning on a flow sensor rather than pressure....just a simple vane (like a symmetrical reed) w/ resistance gauge on each side (homemade) so it could tell push from pull.... This is a midi-only setup at the moment........ Jack

So do concertina variants count ? Having spent a lot of time trying to decide between the English, Anglo, and MacCann (acquired by mistake and unsuccessfully sold) the winner is ...... the MacCann !! Oh ya, also try to play the flute, radio, and CD player..............

Yes. I have one of these...cute but low quality action etc....that one is in very nice condition compared to the one I have...mine would make a nice parts unit for it ! Jack

Ha! I'm enjoying this.....(already have the two TV's w/ earphones...helps..) I'm converting my last project...the never very good Bastari to 30-button MIDI as we speak.....no problem setting up the keyboards....perfect size buttons are on EBay ! For the midi controller I'm junking a CMK-149 velocity sensitive keyboard also from EBay...checked it out w/ MIDI-OX (freeware) and a usb converter (you guessed it..EBay) I still need to find a suitable pressure sensor for the in-vs-out ....... If you just want to drive earphones you could use one of those small keyboards from Radio Shack (non-midi).......I thoght about it but midi is so much more flexible that I'd wind up doing it all over again.....I always seem to follow M. Eskin anyway.....

50 buttons arrived today...very nice work.....they seem to be the same size as those (bone) on 48 button Lachenal English #59932........ So far....so good.......

I couldn't agree with you more Geoff. Never a good solution trying to make a square peg fit a round hole... so to speak Dave For(tune)atly.....the 50 coming only have to have an action and plates built around them......so fitting the square(doff) peg into new round holes shouldn't be a problem (famous last words).....

It does look like my (now retired) Bastari is turning into a nice little midi ...easy so far...

So, if I convert the Bastari...should it be called a Bastetto ? (or ???) That one's easy. If you convert it, it will have been a Bastari... past tense. For forming the past tense, the usual ending is "d". So it will be a "Bastard". I was afraid of that........... looks like dead simple conversion though.........gutting a velocity-sensitive keyboard...endplates took one day......

Oh, come on. I didn't say they are not concertinas, except the Organetto. Which further proves my point. A car with wings is still a car, not an airplane. So, if I convert the Bastari...should it be called a Bastetto ? (or ???)

Just bought the first 50 ...so we'll see how they make out...easier than making them !

Here's an example: http://www.flexpivots.com/?source=ssi_gaw&...CFQolHgodgg_mFg Of course, I have no idea if these are the "right" ones or pricing yet !

The main issue between the Lachenal 'window frame' post and the staple is the lever arm's flank support where the arm is subject to axial turning moments. These situations only become a problem: a, if the lever arm is in anyway cranked, and b, the legs of the staple are splayed. The resultant problem will be the same as the 'Edeophone Cranked Arm Syndrome' previously discussed on this site. Dave E Right...you want to minimize side friction and the pivot to be a pure rocking motion...the staples I had showed little or no side wear but quite a bit of rod wear at the joint between the rod and the staple....as if the rod bend was too tight......I would suspect that the punched frames might be better in this area.

Er, Jack, what is the objective here? 1. to refurb a damaged action plate? 2. to refurb a damaged pivot post or two? 3. to re-develop a concertina with different fingering etc? more keys or what ever. Dave E Mmmmm....#3.....to make up a 30+ Anglo out of whatever I can get my hands on.........(the Naval Jelly arrived last night..for reed cleanup) The action plate is the current center of attention......needs to be made (or revamp an English...probably better made new) Jack

It's not so much that it's worn or that a "staple" action couldn't be good (although the wear marks on the rods would seem to suggest that it wasn't the optimum fit) as that it's the wrong action plate (just what I could find as junk) I'm not convinced that "riveted" is necessarily the best action either.....(instrumentation background)...hence this topic..... Come to think of it...and I just thought of (remembered) it....years ago, when I was making microindentors, we used "spring pivots" ....which combined both functions...I'll dig that up ..... Jack

Ahhh...well, the junker actions are/were 20 button Lachenal Anglo......pretty sad.(worse).....just scavaging parts to build up a 30+......the pivots are just a bent piece of wire, "U" shape stapled into the plate. (The old Bastari...learning curve unit has been relegated to making a MIDI controller.....)

I'll see what I can do about getting some actual pics...in the meantime, the staples look a lot like the pivot shown in the bottom left of the photo The rods are flattened brass rod (easy to make) w/ two "v"'s as opposed to the Aluminium ones in the photo....the scrapper had parallel reeds..... The rods look like these

Yes, it does look pretty good as long as the radius on the rod and that on the staple are a good match....... The problem is exactly that.........I need a new action plate...I don't have the tooling Lachenal had to do the staples w/ any sort of accuracy so I keep thinking of threaded studs (slots w/ glass pivot rods ?...again a lot of work) ......one possibility is to use an english plate and do a layout that will use some of the pivots........ I don't know exactly how the rods pivot in the punched out type.....I would think (looking at what I have so far) that a wedge in the plate could rock in a radius on the rod (a single axis radius not the compound one on the existing rods) Jack

What is the best design for (or source of) "Lachenal" rod pivots ?? The scrapper for reeds had what looked like simple staples, not the cutout plates that I see in pictures.... Jack

Great ! They're on the way ! Thanks! Jack

Fiberglass pen..sounds great, but I haven't been able to find one on this side of the pond (yet)...... I'm hoping for a little more detail on the solutions mentioned in some of the old posts.....if I can remove the oxides, I can give the assembled reeds and shoes a quick coat (sputtered..so very thin) of gold to dry and protect the surface...this would need to be repeated after tuning.....much, much thinner than plating......."Permatex 81756 Naval Jelly Rust Dissolver" sounds like it might be just the thing! (Thanks) 800+ grit...wow...how thin can this paper be gotten ? (now that I think about it....the people who polish the ends of fiber optics use thin sheets of something...maby diamond impregnated paper?.....I've seen it for sale on EBay) Jack

Is there any way to restore old reeds...is there any solution which will soak off old rust and brass corrosion from salvaged reeds and reed shoes ??? Admittedly, there would probably be some metal loss and retuning is a given................ Jack