Bellows Card Depth

[David Hornett]

Ah, but do your wrinkly knees bother the audience, that is the measure?

 

Cheers

 

David

[alex_holden]

12 hours ago, David Hornett said:

Ah, but do your wrinkly knees bother the audience, that is the measure?

 

No complaints so far. ?

[Dana Johnson]

On prototypes, I have used 1.25 inch cards and .875 inch cards with opening angles of 90 degrees.  I currently use 1.125 inch cards.  The short pitch of the shallow cards reduced the open volume.  The deep cards were much less stable, and any increase in volume from extra extension seemed eliminated by the loss of volume as the valleys excluded air that would have been inside the bellows with shallower cards.  1.125 inches seems a happy place with decent volume and good stability.  For people who use a lot of air, I think adding folds makes the most sense.  I play primarily ITM, and only really use all of a six fold bellows for some airs.  Other types of music may need more air with heavy use of chords,  but bellows stability is the most important factor, since it affects how well the bellows reacts to changes in direction.  This is most important for anglos where note changes on the push and pull need to be quick and accurate.  English’s or Duets,  don’t usually take advantage of that, and can handle less stable bellows.

Dana

[alex_holden]

Thanks Dana. I'm probably going to try slightly deeper cards on the next set I build (which will also be my first eight-sided instrument).