Gold Embossed Leather Ends

[Don Taylor]

I am contemplating replacing the bellows on my Lachenal Exclesior rather than rebinding them to fix a leak. The current bellows are also quite stiff and six folds would be nicer than the existing five folds.

 

But, the existing bellows have nice gold embossed leather ends that I dont want to lose.

 

Can I hope to get the existing leather ends off without damage so that I can reuse them? If so, how?

 

If not, does anyone sell embossed leather ends?

 

(The leather ends are the thin strips of leather that wrap around the ends of the bellows to cover up the ends and make them look complete).

[Alex West]

"Can I hope to get the existing leather ends off without damage so that I can reuse them? If so, how?"

 

The short answer is yes. Most original bellows will have been glued together either with a starch paste or animal glue and in both cases, careful dampening will reverse the glue and allow you to gently peel back the leather end where it overlaps onto the first bellows card (under the papers and over the top of the gusset leather). Warm water will help as heat releases the glue as well; you don't need to soak them, just damp enough

 

Removing the leather end from the bellows frame might be a bit trickier but the principle is the same. I've just achieved exactly this on a set of bellows I'm rebuilding at the moment. I haven't got to the stage of re-glueing the ends onto the new bellows yet though!

 

Good Luck

Alex West

 

[Greg Jowaisas]

Best of luck with the removal. If a replacement bellows is necessary here are some examples of my work:

 

 

 

(Lachenal 'L' papers by Dave Elliott)

 

Greg

[RP3]

I can voucher for the quality of Greg's work since my new bellows are revealed behind "Door #2"! And the work on the rest of the concertina was equally exceptional.

 

Ross Schlabach

[d.elliott]

"Can I hope to get the existing leather ends off without damage so that I can reuse them? If so, how?"

 

The short answer is yes. Most original bellows will have been glued together either with a starch paste or animal glue and in both cases, careful dampening will reverse the glue and allow you to gently peel back the leather end where it overlaps onto the first bellows card (under the papers and over the top of the gusset leather). Warm water will help as heat releases the glue as well; you don't need to soak them, just damp enough

 

Removing the leather end from the bellows frame might be a bit trickier but the principle is the same. I've just achieved exactly this on a set of bellows I'm rebuilding at the moment. I haven't got to the stage of re-glueing the ends onto the new bellows yet though!

 

Good Luck

 

Alex West

 

 

The embossed leather end wraps are readily available, either as part of a home fitting bellows kit from concertina spares, or fitted by through expert restorers like Greg. It is usually not worth trying to save the existing end wraps:

 

they stretch with water and the embossing loses definition

the wetting does the bellows frame glue no good

the old leather is scuffed and in some cases worn through

 

If you let us know where you are domiciled perhaps someone can suggest an appropriate repairer who can advise you.?

 

Dave