Concertina ends and lazer cutting

[Jake Middleton-Metcalfe]

Hello

 

Many makers these days cut their fretwork concertina ends by lazer these days. Its quicker and easyer ect. At my university we have a pretty advanced lazer cuting device, basicly you draw the shape you want cut on adobe illustrator (can be drawn by hand and scanned in), press go and the machine does the rest, it can cut wood, but not metel.

 

When I saw this I felt a brainwave coming on, I believe It could very easily be done to cut my own ends. Styleisticly the typical swirly floral type patterns dont seem to have changed much over the 150 or so years the instrument has been around. Though I am sure there are exceptions for example Frank Edgly does a lovely celtic lion design.

 

Perhapse some people out there are a bit bored of the traditional designs? I mean you could really do anything on that little 6 sides shape... My concertina is going to be ready in july and I am seriously concidering asking the guy not to bother making the ends and do them myself.

 

I think it would be an interesting thing to explore, and I bet there are quite a few people out there who would love to do their own design, what do you think?

[Steve_freereeder]

My concertina is going to be ready in july and I am seriously concidering asking the guy not to bother making the ends and do them myself.

Don't forget that the ends are not just about the fretwork. The thickness needs to be exactly right to tie in with the travel of the keys. There are the holes for the keys to consider, which need to be accurately aligned with the action, and also are tapered holes, not cylindrical, to allow for the felt bushing to be fitted. Then there is the really accurate alignment of the end-bolt holes, which are normally done at the same time as the drilling of the same holes into the end frames.

 

My advice would be to allow your maker go ahead with the complete concertina, including the ends. If you subsequently want to build additional custom ends yourself, at least (a) the maker's ends will provide you with an accurate template to work from, and ( you will have a playable concertina in the meantime, and ultimately, in case something goes wrong with your own construction work.

[Ransom]

Or you could give him the design and have him cut it into the fretwork with his own laser.

[Jake Middleton-Metcalfe]

Quite right steve if i was going to do it I should probably have the actual instrument there in the first place so I can make sure my measurements are exact. I think your right in saying I should get him to do my original ends for me, they are metel also wich I cant do.

 

If the guy has his own lazer I could probably give him a design in advance... good idea.

 

Well, in the meantime I should come up with a design I will keep you posted on how this goes.

[Dirge]

Quite right steve if i was going to do it I should probably have the actual instrument there in the first place so I can make sure my measurements are exact. I think your right in saying I should get him to do my original ends for me, they are metel also wich I cant do.

 

If the guy has his own lazer I could probably give him a design in advance... good idea.

 

Well, in the meantime I should come up with a design I will keep you posted on how this goes.

It's a fun idea. In your shoes I'd have a word with the maker, tell him what I was thinking and ask if he has any comments as a first step, especially whether he's willing to take an interest in this at all.

 

It might be possible to make them and give them to him to build in; you might even save some money. Pure conjecture now but I'd guess his reply might be along the lines of 'well I'll use them if I can but I'll only consider it if you accept that if I think they're substandard I'm not obliged to'

[Dana Johnson]

Quite right steve if i was going to do it I should probably have the actual instrument there in the first place so I can make sure my measurements are exact. I think your right in saying I should get him to do my original ends for me, they are metel also wich I cant do.

 

If the guy has his own lazer I could probably give him a design in advance... good idea.

 

Well, in the meantime I should come up with a design I will keep you posted on how this goes.

Few people have their own LASER cutting device ( none of the current makers I know of ). They are pretty expensive pieces of equipment. As you say, universities sometimes have them, and laser cutting businesses have them and will generally do your job for you at a price, but the cost is not insignificant. ( the price starts to come down when you are doing a lot of ends ) If you really want your own design and don't want to go to the trouble of making your own concertina, talk to the person who is actually making it and see if they would be willing to have your design on their instrument ( remember, you didn't make it and bear no repercussions if your instrument made by someone who I presume values their name, doesn't appeal to someone else ). Most of the maker's I know of have gone through a substantial development process for their designs and in some way the designs represent the maker. If you send the design either printed or on computer media to the maker they can cut the pattern themselves. This saves you the trouble of not only cutting your own end, but doing all the careful work necessary to actually make a concertina end to cut in the first place and have it match and fit your concertina. if you really want to do it yourself, keep in mind that if you are planning a nickel silver end and not wood , it requires a much higher power laser to cut since the material tends to reflect the ray rather than absorb it. Stainless steel cuts easily as does wood, but a wood end requires much more work to make than a metal end. A laser may save a lot of effort for a maker who is doing dozens of instruments, but for a personal one off it takes more time find a jobber and get the file to them than it would take to cut by hand, not to mention the rest of the wood or metal work involved.

[Jake Middleton-Metcalfe]

Quite right steve if i was going to do it I should probably have the actual instrument there in the first place so I can make sure my measurements are exact. I think your right in saying I should get him to do my original ends for me, they are metel also wich I cant do.

 

If the guy has his own lazer I could probably give him a design in advance... good idea.

 

Well, in the meantime I should come up with a design I will keep you posted on how this goes.

Few people have their own LASER cutting device ( none of the current makers I know of ). They are pretty expensive pieces of equipment. As you say, universities sometimes have them, and laser cutting businesses have them and will generally do your job for you at a price, but the cost is not insignificant. ( the price starts to come down when you are doing a lot of ends ) If you really want your own design and don't want to go to the trouble of making your own concertina, talk to the person who is actually making it and see if they would be willing to have your design on their instrument ( remember, you didn't make it and bear no repercussions if your instrument made by someone who I presume values their name, doesn't appeal to someone else ). Most of the maker's I know of have gone through a substantial development process for their designs and in some way the designs represent the maker. If you send the design either printed or on computer media to the maker they can cut the pattern themselves. This saves you the trouble of not only cutting your own end, but doing all the careful work necessary to actually make a concertina end to cut in the first place and have it match and fit your concertina. if you really want to do it yourself, keep in mind that if you are planning a nickel silver end and not wood , it requires a much higher power laser to cut since the material tends to reflect the ray rather than absorb it. Stainless steel cuts easily as does wood, but a wood end requires much more work to make than a metal end. A laser may save a lot of effort for a maker who is doing dozens of instruments, but for a personal one off it takes more time find a jobber and get the file to them than it would take to cut by hand, not to mention the rest of the wood or metal work involved.

 

 

yeah but I can use the cutter for free pretty much any time. I think I would rather let my maker stick to his normal end designs and when I get the instrument possibly look into designing my own. I mean... the main thing at the moment would be that I get an instrument i can play.

 

sorry I dont think I said it very clearly earlier. I would be useing wood, our machine cant cut metel at all, it goes up to wood 2 cm thick. When I have the actual instrument in my hands I would be able to measure it and ensure my thickness of wood/ spaceing of button holes/ exact location of screw holes would all be correct.

 

basicly I think maknig my own ends is somthing I would think about after Ive been playing with my one a while