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Remaking ends by hand


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Hi everyone. I am new to the forum and am seeking some advice. I have repaired a few concertinas in the last few years as a hobby following retirement, and so far I have limited my endeavours to the mechanical components, polishing and tuning. Recently I have acquired an instrument (by Campbells of Glasgow?), very similar to a 20 key Lachenal Anglo I have, with a lot of damage to the fretwork on one end, and decided to have a go at making a new end. I thought I would use my scroll saw for the job and have purchased some rosewood from a reputable luthier supplier in the UK.

 

So far I have completed about half of the work but I have to say that I am not very happy with the finish I am getting. I am comparing it to the good end which is cut so precisely that anything I do by hand is going to look inferior.

 

Am I wasting my time trying to repair in this way, and is it likely to devalue the instrument?

 

Any thoughts / advice would be much appreciated.

 

Best regards

Rod

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Personally I prefer to use a handheld fretsaw; I don't get precise enough control with my scroll saw. I use a platform that lifts the work up quite close to my face and wear mild magnifying glasses. There is a bright LED panel above my workbench. I've recently changed to Pegas No. 0 skip tooth blades for cutting wooden ends. My preferred saw frame has an 8" deep throat and can hold a fairly high tension. When I design the template I like to have a fine black cut line with the waste parts white and the solid parts shaded light grey (this helps to avoid mistakes where you stray onto the wrong side of the line). After sticking the template down I rub a coat of clear shellac on the surface, which helps to avoid smudges that make the line harder to see. When sawing I aim to split the line down the middle. I do metal ends pretty much the same way but with a finer-toothed jeweller's saw blade instead.

 

 

 

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Alex

 

Thank you for your reply and for sharing some very valuable insights. I will need to up my game! Fortunately I had the foresight to buy enough rosewood to make 4 sides, so I will start again using a fretsaw. My pattern is a bit rough and ready as I have attempted to trace the pattern on the good side.

 

When you have finished sawing, do you make any attempt to improve the finish inside the cuts, or leave them as sawn? I only ask because the original ends on this instrument appear to be machined and show no saw marks.

Edited by Rod Pearce
REMOVED ERRONEOUS WORD
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11 hours ago, Rod Pearce said:

Thank you for your reply and for sharing some very valuable insights. I will need to up my game! Fortunately I had the foresight to buy enough rosewood to make 4 sides, so I will start again using a fretsaw. My pattern is a bit rough and ready as I have attempted to trace the pattern on the good side.

 

When you have finished sawing, do you make any attempt to improve the finish inside the cuts, or leave them as sawn? I only ask because the original ends on this instrument appear to be machined and show no saw marks.

 

Hi Rod, I recommend working on redrawing the pattern as perfectly as you can (I spend more time drawing the pattern than sawing wood). If your pattern is rough, the finished fretwork is almost inevitably going to turn out rough too. I do it on a computer using a free program called Inkscape.

 

I don't usually clean up the cut edges inside the piercings, apart from the oval where the maker's label goes. Some vintage instruments (particularly Lachenal) had ends cut using a spinning router bit that followed a template.You can tell because the piercings don't have any really sharp inside corners (being limited by the diameter of the round cutter). The modern equivalent of this technique would be a CNC router.

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I've made quite a few new ends - including raised ends.

 

The first ends I made I used a powered scroll saw - never again.  It was a right pain in the * to change blades between cuts, the saw running too fast and ruining the cuts, inability to set even and consistent blade tension between cuts - the overall lack of control had me re-examine the tools I use to cut ends.

 

Now I cut frets using a hand fret saw - and I decided to spend a bit of money on this essential tool.  Frequently undoing the blade between cuts results in uneven tension in the blade with budget-end fret saws - the one I went for allows undoing the blade between cuts while maintaining  blade tension when moving to a new cut.

Here's a picture of the type of saw I went for - I use the 8" saw - useful for cutting awkward frets on large width ends.

 

knew_concepts_mkiv_hd_lt_8_inch.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Personally I prefer to use a handheld fretsaw; I don't get precise enough control with my scroll saw. I use a platform that lifts the work up quite close to my face and wear mild magnifying glasses. There is a bright LED panel above my workbench. I've recently changed to Pegas No. 0 skip tooth blades for cutting wooden ends. My preferred saw frame has an 8" deep throat and can hold a fairly high tension.

 

Alex

 

I have made a platform using some odds and ends I had lying around, so it has cost me nothing. It fits in my vice so it can be raised / lowered easily to the appropriate height. I have bought a fretsaw (couldn't get an 8 inch one)  and I already had some Pegas No 1 blades. So this afternoon I have been hard at it with the new approach. Progress is slow but promising. I will share the finished end when I manage to complete the piercings - hopefully in a day or two.

 

You will notice the platform top is small in comparison, this is purely because I didn't have a larger piece to hand. But it seems to work fine. Time will tell.

 

Rod

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I too use a fretsaw, and I also second Geoff's comments on rosewood dust, it is a high potency sensitizer, it can cause asthma and is a skin and mucus membrane irritant. Use a dust mask, and keep it out of your eyes. Scroll saws often have a blower to keep the line clear, not a good idea in this medium. 

 

On the practical side I have noticed, and I have also tried to emulate the sawing on a slight angle where the fretting section is thinner on the inside of the finger board than the outside. It gives a nice neat finish

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Hi, all -

 

What I find difficult is keeping the blade vertical, in two planes, that is. Any quality of saw can't solve that problem. I have a saw like SteveS's - wonderful tool, but still...The effect of failing to do that is, of course, the the sides of the fretwork aren't vertical, and the thicker the wood, the worse the probelm. Metal end? No problem. Maybe it's just impatience...

 

/Henrik

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IMG_1337.thumb.JPG.cbf801531620c52680725dcbcbaf42cd.JPGMy second attempt, using a No 0 Pegas skip blade. It's better, but the intricate pattern I am attempting is leading to a number of very fine pieces between the holes in places.I'm not sure it will stand up to being used as a replacement for the original end it is supposed to be replacing. You will notice I have not plucked up the courage to attempt the button holes or the makers badge hole yet - that ia for another day. Still, I am quite please with the overall attempt, and only one broken (worn out) blade!

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IMG_1337.thumb.JPG.cbf801531620c52680725dcbcbaf42cd.JPG

 

 

Edited by Rod Pearce
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To drill the button holes without splintering you'll need a very sharp lip and spur drill bit. I touch up the spurs on mine with diamond needle files under magnification to get them as sharp as possible. I drill a 1mm pilot hole first to guide the point of the bit, then I drill about half way through from the top (high speed, slow feed), then turn the board over and drill the rest of the way from the bottom. I also use a special tapered reamer from the bottom to make the hole cone-shaped (wider at the bottom) - this helps avoid the action sticking if the wooden parts move. If you're going to bush the holes, do some experiments on a scrap piece first to find the best size of hole so the bush doesn't end up too tight or sloppy.

 

The most difficult part is getting the holes exactly over the pin holes in the action platform (if they are misaligned the buttons won't be vertical and the action will be sticky). Sometimes to get around the problem I get them as close as I can, then I plug the pin holes with dowels, pare them flush, and use the new end plate as a guide to redrill the pin holes aligned with the end plate (using a drill guide bushing that closely fits the button hole and the drill depth stop to avoid going all the way through). This is easier to do if it's a Lachenal where you can remove the levers.

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9 hours ago, alex_holden said:

The most difficult part is getting the holes exactly over the pin holes in the action platform (if they are misaligned the buttons won't be vertical and the action will be sticky).

 

Thanks Alex - this is all very valuable info.

 

I do have the original end with button holes intact, so with care I should be able to use this as a template for the new end, when I am happy with it.

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  • 1 month later...

I have finished cutting the new end and will shortly be gluing it to the end frame. The existing ends have profiled edges, and I was wondering if anyone could share a way to do this. I have tried making a scratch stock from an old hacksaw blade ( this has worked for me in the past but on a smaller profile). It hasn't worked on this occasion as I need to profile both with and against the grain. The result is too rough. I was thinking about a router of some sort?

 

Would I be better advised to just finish the edges with a straight bevel?

 

Picture of existing end attached

 

Regards

Rod

 

IMG_1426.jpg

Edited by Rod Pearce
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  • 2 weeks later...

Here is the finished end - minus the strap.

 

I persevered with the scratch stock to get the curved bevelled edge. I sharpened the end of the scratch stock blade, which seemed to make all the difference. After planing each edge to a straight bevel, I then followed up with the scratch stock to remove the remaining wood and used a curved needle file and glasspaper to achieve the final finish.

 

I am pretty pleased with the end result, for a first attempt!

 

 

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Edited by Rod Pearce
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