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Making Glass Topped Buttons


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33 minutes ago, Don Taylor said:

The bases of Bill's buttons look like they are made from wood (is that right Bill?).  Mine seem to be made from brass.

Yes, a wooden core wrapped in thin sheet brass.

 

Alex:  the chamfering is definitely done by hand.  One button was loose in the ferrule, so I've reversed it in the photo below.  The hidden end is quite rough.  It almost looks like it was scored and snapped. (see photo below- upside down clear rod next to right-side-up red button)

 

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1 hour ago, alex_holden said:

 

Interesting, it looks like the shapes of the button tops varies a lot, which might suggest they were hand ground from plain rod rather than cast/formed in a mould.

I had not noticed the variation before, but yes there is some.  I would not say a lot. but definitely some.  I suspect that they were initially ground and polished flat and then a quick grind of the edges while spinning in a lathe.  After all, you would not want Victorian ladies cutting their fingers on the buttons.

 

I find them comfortable and easy to slide from one note to another.  There is no sign of wear or discoloration at all on any of the buttons.

 

My initial thought about them was that they were just a luxury feature, go faster stripes if you will, but they look as good as the day that they were made 130 years ago.  I think that Louis knew his materials pretty well.

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13 hours ago, alex_holden said:

 

It's interesting to see how they joined a wooden core to the glass rod using a split metal (brass?) tube. Painting the bottom of the glass is also a useful tip.

 

The keys I have repaired usually had a brass cup integral with the body and guide peg as a single turned component. The glass being coloured at it's base and cemented into the cup. 

 

Current glass rod tolerances are around +/- 0.17 to +/- 0.2 mm  from lab suppliers. I have always cut the rod then filed (diamond) and polished the top to suit the existing keys.

 

Dave

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2 hours ago, d.elliott said:

The keys I have repaired usually had a brass cup integral with the body and guide peg as a single turned component. The glass being coloured at it's base and cemented into the cup. .

 

That does sound like a more reliable way to join them rather than the three piece construction.

 

2 hours ago, d.elliott said:

Current glass rod tolerances are around +/- 0.17 to +/- 0.2 mm  from lab suppliers. I have always cut the rod then filed (diamond) and polished the top to suit the existing keys.

 

Thanks Dave, as suspected those tolerances aren't great. I wonder if they are at least fairly consistent in a batch; I could probably live with buying 5mm rod and actually getting 5.2+/-0.05, but it wouldn't do to make a set of buttons where they vary randomly between 4.8 and 5.2. I'm probably going to have to buy some and do my own measurements.

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2 hours ago, alex_holden said:

Thanks Dave, as suspected those tolerances aren't great.

Alex

 

You would not need much glass to make a set of buttons so maybe you would have to buy a batch with the expectation that some will not be usable.  I would not expect glass rods to be particularly expensive?

 

Don.

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3 hours ago, Don Taylor said:

You would not need much glass to make a set of buttons so maybe you would have to buy a batch with the expectation that some will not be usable.  I would not expect glass rods to be particularly expensive?

 

Rough back of the envelope calculation suggests a £13+postage pack of 6mm borosilicate glass rods should make up to 500 buttons (not allowing for rejects). A £11 pack of 5mm rods should do 750 buttons. I'm going to order some and do some experiments.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've now made a set of 47 6mm borosilicate glass buttons for Holden No. 7. They were a lot of work but the results look beautiful. They weigh about 2g each, so not the lightest option but not as heavy as solid brass or stainless steel (obviously 5mm diameter would have been lighter). The greenish tint visible in some of the pictures is from green ink on the bottom of the glass. As usual there is much more detail about the process on my Instagram feed.

 

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5 hours ago, alex_holden said:

I've now made a set of 47 6mm borosilicate glass buttons for Holden No. 7. They were a lot of work but the results look beautiful....

They do indeed! That's pretty damn' impressive! Amazing! I love it!

 

Three supplementaries:

 

1) Is the fretwork pattern in the ends your own design, or what? It's gorgeous!

2) What is the thickness of the fretworked ends? They look as if they are significantly thicker than the ends of the vintage Lachenal

I am looking at right now....

3) What does it sound like...?

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43 minutes ago, lachenal74693 said:

They do indeed! That's pretty damn' impressive! Amazing! I love it!

 

Three supplementaries:

 

1) Is the fretwork pattern in the ends your own design, or what? It's gorgeous!

2) What is the thickness of the fretworked ends? They look as if they are significantly thicker than the ends of the vintage Lachenal

I am looking at right now....

3) What does it sound like...?

 

Thanks! Yes, it's my design, based on a lot of discussion with @Isel. The end boards are flat on the bottom and raised by 4mm in the keyboard area, so the thin areas are approx 4.5mm and the thick areas are approx 8.5mm. No sound yet; I'm just starting on the reeds. I'm expecting it to sound similar to Holden No. 4 (@Little John's instrument), as the reed scale and a lot of other things are the same, though the fretwork is less open on this one.

Edited by alex_holden
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Just now, Don Taylor said:

This is what you get when a jeweller makes a concertina!  A thing of beauty.

 

So that is a Hayden?  47 buttons?  Air button?

 

What size is it?

 

Thanks! Yes, it's a 47 button Hayden with an air lever (you can just see it near the base of the tree trunk in the last picture). 6 1/4" wide. Long scale reeds on the right hand. Radial pans with two inner chambers on each side.

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2 hours ago, Don Taylor said:

Hmmm.  Trying to work out what the hole configuration means, especially the large egg-shaped hole.

 

Slanted rest with a thumb strap and a ?

 

This post shows the handrest and strap arrangement:

 

On one level the hole under the handrail is just a sound port. On another level there is a story about the tree, the butterflies, the wreath of oak leaves, and the hidden egg - but it isn't my tale to tell.

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1 hour ago, d.elliott said:

Well done Alex. What's your view of using aluminium in place of the brass, not so easy to machine but an awful lot lighter in weight?

 

Thanks Dave, the aluminium wasn't difficult to machine and as you say it's much lighter weight. Another advantage is the bottom of the socket is very shiny which helps to capture light and reflect it back out (the epoxy glue is transparent).

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