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Hi All,

 

In response to this post I was asked if I would make a vegan concertina as a first instrument for someone. So, almost two years later here it is. It uses some old Italian reeds from a 30s accordion, retuned to concertina tuning, which was not actually as difficult as I thought it would be. I have Nigel Sture to thank for this suggestion, and it is a vast improvement on the little German reeds I used previously. I might graduate to new handmade reeds eventually, but at the equivalent of about a tenner for the set you can't really argue with the odd one that might have seen better days. It's more responsive and nicer to play than a Stagi starter, and much louder than my 40s Crabb, which was verified at a session last week where I sat between a whistle and a castagnari!

 

The previous one was vegetarian, but only due to the wool felt and beeswax finish, which were easily substituted. The bellows fabric here is also different, I used a synthetic chamois as an experiment, which has made for very strong bellows and a good finish, but not quite as supple as the latex impregnated cloth used previously. Still it's good to have a non-latex alternative for those with that allergy. The wood is holm oak which I have stained slightly darker, the internals are sycamore, a good uk alternative to maple for a nice bright sound. Fretwork design is my own, based on the wych elm leaf (I have some wych elm ones in the pipeline). As always, thanks Bob for sharing with me and many others your exquisite skills and insight.

 

First video here, hope to do some better ones soon: https://youtu.be/UIRHSFvjDwQmore photos here: http://pistachiodreamer.tumblr.com

 

tumblr_o4hwd6kEEM1ras8reo1_1280.jpg

Edited by Pistachio Dreamer
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This is fantastic. The bellows , I am guessing, would be a very difficult aspect of a vegan concertina. Valves too. Kudos for making a beautiful and, to my knowledge, unique instrument. A couple years ago I began harvesting birch bark from trees that had fallen down all on their own to use for origami (a hobby of mine that started as an aid to quit smoking). Not that birch is in danger from commercial use, its simply easier from a practical standpoint and suits my needs. Also cutting down a tree for its bark does seem awfully wasteful. Before I hijack this thread with anecdotal and off-topic banter, I always thought that birch bark would make for beautiful bellows papers and indeed can be separated to suitable thickness. I think it would look gorgeous on one of your vegan concertinas. Keep up the good work!!!

Edited by nicx66
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... people have suggested synthetics for bellows in the past but I dont remember anyone trying it.

 

Steve Dickinson tried using rexine to make "butterfly bellows", for his cheaper models, in his early years, but it wasn't a success - I should know, his brother made my tuning bellows using one of the rexine sets, and the valleys in them are all splitting... :rolleyes:

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Thanks all for your lovely and encouraging comments. Nicx66 the birch bark is a great idea, I am planning some not necessarily vegan, but more "natural" instruments that this would work well with. Also thanks for making an old post hot again with your mis-post!

 

Jake of Hertford, thanks for your interest, I've applied to join your fb group if its still active. Bellows fabric is made with a layer of cleaning cloth, skived to nothing with the addition of "iron on" interfacing material and a coat of heavy body acrylic and acrylic medium mix. The resulting sections are much harder to stick than leather (to put it lightly!) but function well. The problem with synthetic chamois (PVA cloth) is that it becomes quite rigid when dry, so you need to really work the folds in, which has worked in this case. The latex coated cloths are probably a better bet as they remain supple when dry. In both cases, I've found that the synthetic bellows are momentarily stiff when taking the instrument out from cold, but loosen up well within a few minutes of playing. Just found this from french speaking canada, accordion equivalent perhaps, looks nice- http://www.eco-rdeon.veganquebec.net/wonder if they have the same issues with synthetic fabric bellows

 

Mike Franch, I think you asked me this before - short answer this time is I'll try and make an English if someone asks me too ;) I may well be making a Hayden for someone at some point too! Production? Pass, would have to give up the day job!

 

Stephen Chambers, interesting you bring up the rexine example, my first attempt at these bellows were weak at the valleys, I had only used the interface without the cloth as was concerned it would be overall too inflexible. This time I worked out a method of using the full ply, and used a clamp with an embedded plastic wire to "bed in " a good fold in the otherwise too thick material. The nice thing about these bellows over leather is that if you get in a gluey mess (as I did on occasion) you can just wipe them down and put another coat of paint on!

 

..and thanks CG!

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