Lachenal 30 button frame repair.

[Ralph Lucey]

Hi all. I am rebuilding a Lachenal 30 button Anglo and the action board frames need some repair. On both left and right one of the sides of the hexagon is a “tongue” glued onto the fretwork frame and that fits into the action board frame. These tongues are not very neat and I think may have been a modification as there is old glue on the beads and the action board.

 

I am not sure if I should try remove these tongues and refit to the action board. 

 

Can anyone advise if this tongue is a standard layout for Lachenals?

 

Thanks as always, Ralph.

 

 

 

[alex_holden]

No, one wall from the bottom half of the box wouldn't normally be glued to the top half like that. Very strange thing to do. My worry would be what sort of glue they used; if it is very strong you could easily damage the parts in trying to separate them.

[Ralph Lucey]

Thanks Alex. The top half of the triangular gussets came off and it looks like they were fixed using bone or hide glue so I’m hoping the tongue is the same. It looks like these small gussets were reused from the other half of the action box . Do you have any advice about “loosening” that main joint, which feels solid. Photo of the action board fyi.

 

[d.elliott]

I would treat the corner blocks as sacrificial, not on the action box cover (fretting) side on the joint but on the pad board side. The issue you face is the preservation of the the casing veneer and it's polish. The more you dance around the issue the more risk you engender. I would remove the corner blocks on the action box side, expecting to have to re-make them. Then I would weaken the 'joint' between the casing walls by brushing with water to try and soften the glue, and the judicious use of a razor saw to cut it out. I would also expect to have to build up any framing soft wood loss.

[mChavez]

If it's hide glue, to weaken the joint you'll need to heat it up. A very small electric heat blanket (repair blanket) does a decent job. If there are any visible cracks in the joint, it would help to blow some steam into them if you can.

 

Whenever I had to weaken a hide glue (or titebond for that matter) joint, the job was tough and messy. So if you ask me, a chisel might be a better solution to disassembling glued wood

 

[Wally Carroll]

A clothes iron set on a lower temp can also be used but you will likely damage any finish on the sides. You can minimize this by putting a piece of cloth over the wood. Wetting the cloth will add steam to the mix but will likely be harder on the finish. 

[Theo]

To start with get a smal piece of cotton wool, tease it out one a thin rope the length of the glue joint.  Soak it in water and lay it along the joint on the inside, non-veneered side.  Leave it for a couple hours.  If that doesn’t release the joint then try Wally Carrols idea of the iron over a wet cloth.  If the glue appears milky white after soaking it is pva.  Unless you are very unlucky and the glue is waterproof the water and warmth should release the joint.

[Ralph Lucey]

Thanks for the advice all. With the gussets off a fine scalpel along all the edges did the trick and they came of cleanly. They were not bonded very well luckily.  Bellows next.