When all else fails

[Jody Kruskal]

 

[Ken_Coles]

Jody,

 

Was this your inspiration to become a musician? 😎

 

Ken

[ttonon]

Jody, thanks. After looking at this video, I spent a bit of time reading about the interesting lives of both Keaton and Chaplin.

 

Regards,

Tom

[David Barnert]

18 minutes ago, ttonon said:

After looking at this video, I spent a bit of time reading about the interesting lives of both Keaton and Chaplin.

 

So did I. I even found a reference to the fact that Chaplin’s production assistant on “Limelight” was someone named Jerry Epstein. But further digging down the rabbit hole revealed that it was not “our” Jerry Epstein.

[ttonon]

23 minutes ago, David Barnert said:

 

So did I. I even found a reference to the fact that Chaplin’s production assistant on “Limelight” was someone named Jerry Epstein. But further digging down the rabbit hole revealed that it was not “our” Jerry Epstein.

Hi David,

Concerning Chaplin, I was surprised to learn that he was not Jewish. There's an interesting story there, and I was always under the belief that he was Jewish. I believe much of the myth was because of his movie, "The Dictator," which criticizes Hitler. 

 

Regards,

Tom

[Dimble]

@Jody Kruskal, full marks for putting this in the correct section of the forums

[Don Taylor]

Charlie Chaplin was a much more controversial figure in Britain and was considered to be a draft dodger by the UK (gutter) press during WWI.

 

 

[JimR]

During the Academy Awards broadcast Jimmy Kimmel mentioned that Robert Downey Jr learned to play the violin left handed for his portrayal of Chaplin. Quite a feat, I'd imagine, and not at all concertina related.

[David Barnert]

9 minutes ago, JimR said:

During the Academy Awards broadcast Jimmy Kimmel mentioned that Robert Downey Jr learned to play the violin left handed for his portrayal of Chaplin. Quite a feat, I'd imagine, ...

 

Why didn’t they just film the relevant scenes in mirror image? 🫤

 

11 minutes ago, JimR said:

... and not at all concertina related.

 

That was the first mention of concertinas in this entire thread, not counting Don’s sig.

[Jody Kruskal]

OK David, does this help?

 

Moments before posting this funny scene I had just successfully repaired my Jefferies 38 button C/G vintage Anglo.

 

Button #6 on the left hand (pitches A-B) was sounding continuously, impeding my ongoing Old Time tune recording project, so it had to be fixed. 

 

The button seemed to return when pressed, so it was not a broken spring. Nothing to do but take the end off and have a look. I could see nothing wrong. I unhooked the spring, wiggled the lever, seems ok. The staple was snug. I opened the pad and could not see anything keeping it from closing. Gave it a good blow of air. Put everything back together… but the problem was still there. The button seemed to return when pressed, but maybe not fast enough and certainly not strong enough to close the pad.

 

Often, just taking the problem bits apart and fiddling with them fixes the issue. I call that the fuss factor; but not this time. Button #6L was still sounding in both directions without me pressing the button.

 

So I took the end off again to have another look. Should I bend the spring to increase the closing pressure? Attach a second spring? Before taking that drastic measure I tried lubrication.

 

I sprayed a bit of graphite lock lubricant in a bottle cap and applied it to the lever fulcrum with a toothpick and worked it into the riveted joint. Then I found an old drill bit that just fit into the button bushing hole. Rotating the non-cutting end  against the felt in one direction can polish and align the fibers to make for a slightly looser fit. I then applied graphite to the bushing felt for good measure.

 

When I put the end back on,.. problem sorted; much to my relief.

 

Moments later by chance, I watched the Chaplin video and thought… wow. I really dodged a bullet on that concertina repair. It could have been much much worse!

[Paul_Hardy]

12 hours ago, Jody Kruskal said:

Then I found an old drill bit that just fit into the button bushing hole. Rotating the non-cutting end  against the felt in one direction can polish and align the fibers to make for a slightly looser fit.

 

I've successfully used this "round end of drill bit" technique in the past, exactly as you describe (but without the lubricant), to cure a sticking button.

[Anglo-Irishman]

On 3/23/2024 at 7:12 AM, David Barnert said:

Why didn’t they just film the relevant scenes in mirror image? 

Hmm ... I don't know how easy it would have been in those days to reverse the image on a celluloid film.

And anyway, although the mirror image of a right-handed violinist and a right-handed violin would look as if both were left-handed, the mirror image of the grand piano would look distinctly odd!

Cheers,

John

[David Barnert]

On 3/23/2024 at 1:57 AM, JimR said:

Robert Downey Jr learned to play the violin left handed for his portrayal of Chaplin.

On 3/23/2024 at 2:12 AM, David Barnert said:

Why didn’t they just film the relevant scenes in mirror image?

12 minutes ago, Anglo-Irishman said:

I don't know how easy it would have been in those days to reverse the image on a celluloid film.

 

Robert Downey, Jr. played the title role in “Chaplin” in 1992. I never saw it, so I don’t know whether any of the violin scenes also featured an object that was not mirror-image symmetrical.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

Sometimes the tension of spring can be very much the cause of notes sounding [ I have found myself] I intend on making new springs for my concertina later this year to keep certain buttons aligned more precisely.

[Tradewinds Ted]

On 3/24/2024 at 12:53 PM, David Barnert said:

 

Robert Downey, Jr. played the title role in “Chaplin” in 1992. I never saw it, so I don’t know whether any of the violin scenes also featured an object that was not mirror-image symmetrical.

Any scene with close-up of Robert Downey Jr.'s face won't be mirror image.  That is more noticeable than you might think, although it depends upon the person.  Hairstyle is the immediately obvious thing, although could be styled in reverse for a particular scene if it came to that.  Facial structure is more difficult reverse.  MIrror image would work for a long shot of an extra, but not for the main character, with many other scenes for comparison.

 

Separately from any discussion about mirror image, learning to play left-handed is impressive, and the 1992 film sounds interesting.  I've not seen it, so will look for it.