apprenticeOF

Your concertina appears very similar to an 1870's Louis Lachenal that I am trying to rescue. The fretwork is a little nicer than mine. I'm relatively new to concertinas and got into it because I enjoy playing some music (poorly - but who cares) and tinkering as well. My wife and I got into it because we stumbled across a professional quality instrument (a Wheatstone Aeola) at a thrift store. I wanted to fix it up, however some knowledgeable folks on this site suggested that it was too valuable for a beginner to work on - and I took their advice. We have since purchased a steel reeded Lachenal & Co. as well as the brass reeded Louis Lachenal. The Aeola was professionally done up by Concertina Connection (great service!) and is so responsive (and loud) that for a newby like myself it is almost intimidating. The Lachenal & Co. steel reed one is nice to play and responsive enough for a beginner like me. It has bushed keys which seems to help. The Louis Lachenal brass reed one (which is getting close to finished) has the spruce baffles, but not bushed keys. We love the tone, which which is more akin to a "blues harp" harmonica. It does a great job on slower, folky type music, like "500 Miles" and "Motherless Child" but even as a beginner I can feel the difference on faster tempo songs. The "worth it" question is pretty much subjective. I played one of the decent modern ones with accordian reeds, and I think the brass reed Lachenal is far more playable. Those modern ones can be had under $400 but are big and clunky by comparison. If you check on Ebay, a restored brass reed Lachenal (48k) of similar vintage was sold recently (by a respected vendor) for about $700. Unrestored, they seem sell in the 250 to 400 range on Ebay. An up model steel reed Lachenal that had been rebuilt was sold in Dec. for about $1100. You can do the math from there. IF you have the time, lots of patience, and like (emphasis on like) to tinker, that alters the equation. I have had many hours of enjoyment (and some frustration) rescuing the brass reed Lachenal. Dave Elliot's book is great and the folks on this site have been really good about answering questions. I found that the basics like pads and valves are pretty straight forward if you spend a few $ on things like really good screwdrivers and remember "never force anything". Oh, and if you start down that path be prepared for surprises...and roughly triple the time you think it will take.

I would have to agree with Dave that the pattern looks fragile for wood (but very attractive). Given the problems with old simple Lachenal patterns splitting, IF I were to attempt such a pattern in wood, I would want to laminate it, let the stock air dry for months, and consider reinforcing after with infused epoxy. Wheatstone used lamination on our Aeola, and even with that, it has become quite fragile. High quality antique furniture also uses lamination in the fretwork sections. I'm assuming that as concertinas like the Aeola produce very nice sound, that the lamination wouldn't be detrimental to the sound. The problem I see is getting the thickness. I know my planer won't go below 1/8 inch, and you would want 3 layers .... If you go to metal ends, then the fragility problem goes away. I would lean toward looking for a shop that will do water-jet cutting for metal ends. Not cheap, but the reduction in finishing labor would be worth it. Plus with no heat input the chances of any warpage virtually disappear. Most of the shops that do this kind of cutting will want a CAD drawing that is smoothed and polylines. I.E. no stops or starts in the drawing to confuse their compiling program that generates the machine commands.

I also have an older Lachenal English (17219), and it has original green leather. A $6 jacket from a thrift store provided matching leather to make thumstraps.

Thanks for for the input folks. Yes, the climate is relatively dry here in the wine country of the Okanogan valley. Good point. In this case, though, the concertina came to me from the east coast with the problem. I will, however, delay working on the problem for a couple of weeks and let the 'tina acclimatize. My plan now is to use Theo's suggestion of wood slivers - plus gentle serration, although I will use just a smidge of liquid hide glue (I use Tite Bond brand) to hold the slivers. I will make sure to use a contrasting wood color (I'm thinking Phillipine mahogany as it's fairly soft) so that the shims can be identified for future removal/replacement (if necessary). The reasoning for the tiny bit of hide glue is that the only way I can think of to make such small shims is to shave them with a sharp knife, which will leave smooth surfaces that will work against holding strength. Thanks again.

I'm working on an older Lachenal (circa 1870) and have encountered a problem with a poorly done previous repair. It appears that in trying to set the key heights, someone has loosened all the loop pegs from the action board. Most of them just pop out when putting the springs in place. The pads are obvious replacements (two were glued to the action board) and I'm guessing that instead of bending the arms, someone has attempted to set the key height by pulling the loops up. My plan is to gently serrate the tangs on the loops, and tap them down into the board using a small amount of epoxy. Would appreciate any comments on this proposed repair, or any better alternates.

While working on an old Lachenal that had been "barn stored", one of the reed pans was very badly warped. I thought it was toast. There were only 2 support blocks left on that side, so it had had years to wander off. I put new blocks in, but the warp was bad enough that the new blocks started cracking off when tightening up. I made 2 hexagons from 1" plywood and drilled them with a pattern of 3/8" holes. The faces were then lined with felt and the holes opened up through the felt. I placed the offending reed pan between the hexagons, with the felts against the pan. I used 3 large spring clamps to apply continuous moderate clamping pressure, and left it by a window opened a crack. 3 days later when I checked, most of the warp was gone, and the pan is now serviceable. Maybe dumb luck, don't know, but it worked this time. I now use that jig to hold reed pans while I am working on other stuff.

And the serial number is? And the Dawkins address is? The serial number is 17219, the address is Little Warner Street. Nothing much unusual about the concertina, 4F, BR, rosewood ends. The fretwork cutting is a bit finer than some, and the rosewood is a cut above average, plus it has a wood baffle(?) rather than cloth lining.

Just to firm things up regarding Thomas Dawkins: I purchased a 48K english, labelled "Thomas Dawkins, Manufacturer...". When disassembling it for repair, the little round Dawkins label fell off, and 'lo and behold, underneath is another label "Louis Lachenal...Manufacturer, London". No truth in advertising in those days. Dawkins just stuck his own label over top of Lachenal's.