Is there a “best wood” with concertinas?

[holdyourponies]

I’m about to jump on a waiting list and this crossed my mind. There seems to be a lot of options regarding woods such as cocobolo, pau ferro, ebony, etc. is there an agreed upon standard? Should I just go with what is offered? 

[David Lay]

The exposed woods are primarily chosen for aesthetic reasons.  You would not want a wood that is soft, susceptible to cracking or easily broken, of course.  Beware that many colorful woods will darken or change color when exposed to sunlight UV.  (You may not want to store your precious concertina on a window sill.)  Some source trees are endangered and so are not legal to import, but your maker should be the one to deal with that issue.  The popularity of "rosewood" in Asia has caused problems, such that most woods that might pass as rosewood are now threatened.

Edited October 27, 2024 by David Lay

[alex_holden]

If you are talking about the end board, I prefer to use laminated wood construction (essentially fancy plywood) because it will be more stable and less prone to cracking than a solid board. Solid ebony in particular often seems to suffer badly from cracks.

[4to5to6]

I'm a big fan of Amboyna Buryl with ebony trim, dark brown bellows and gold hardware... just my preference.  As Alex said, all wood ends should be laminated for structural stability.  The Wheatstone Aeola came in ebony / ebonized, chrome, nickel plated nickel-silver, gold plated brass, amboyna, natural / plastic tortoiseshell and white eirinod.  Rosewood is nice too.  Am I missing any?

Edited October 28, 2024 by 4to5to6

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

I have used a lot of Sapelle mahogany on the boxes I have made over the years.It is a handsmoe uniform red veneer. I am lucky enough to have many sheets of the material to use ( bought years ago from reputable dealer in UK).

Not a solid wood block of course so it s laminated or glued onto a ply wood base, with a good glue, and has lovely brown/red colour when polished or varnished.

You have to be careful if doing finer sawing into plywood itself as it can splinter easily, and so use fine saw blade as you can find. ( For any scroll work)..assuming you do it mostly by hand).

And keep any wood veneer away from direct bright sunlight .. Sapelle mahogany has uniform surface and no grain or complex pattern to have t match in veneer work, I have found. I have used it along with other veneers ..to make boxes to put instruments inside. 

 

[David Lay]

This is an Edgley "Professional Model" made in 2010 with Pau Ferro ends (sometimes called Bolivian Rosewood).  You can see the laminations making up the end board.  Looking closely, that thin line appears to be three layers and is possibly Baltic Birch plywood.

Edited October 28, 2024 by David Lay

[Caroline]

When I ordered my "Custom Clover" from Concertina Connection, William sent me the following, "I’ve enclosed photos of available woods at this moment. Let me know if there is one that you like. All the woods listed are filtering woods, meaning they reduce the brightness of the reeds, which is what you want with accordion type reeds."  Not all of the woods pictured on their website were included in the listed choices.  There were 4 walnuts of different shades, 2 padouks and  "2 quilted maple billets on the way. Depending on humidity level, they should be available within a few weeks."

 

Besides the Wakker bellows upgrade, the reason I chose the "Custom" Clover was more wood choices and the French polish, which looks beautiful!  I ordered mine in quilted maple and I am more than happy with that decision.

[David Lay]

On 10/28/2024 at 6:24 AM, SIMON GABRIELOW said:

I have used a lot of Sapelle mahogany on the boxes I have made over the years.It is a handsmoe uniform red veneer. I am lucky enough to have many sheets of the material to use ( bought years ago from reputable dealer in UK).

Not a solid wood block of course so it s laminated or glued onto a ply wood base, with a good glue, and has lovely brown/red colour when polished or varnished.

You have to be careful if doing finer sawing into plywood itself as it can splinter easily, and so use fine saw blade as you can find. ( For any scroll work)..assuming you do it mostly by hand).

And keep any wood veneer away from direct bright sunlight .. Sapelle mahogany has uniform surface and no grain or complex pattern to have t match in veneer work, I have found. I have used it along with other veneers ..to make boxes to put instruments inside. 

 

http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/sapele.htm

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

Thanks for putting those pictures of Sapelle mahogany on that link.

(David )..it is a lovely wood that has a fine texture and effect in light when turned about.

I am using some currently to make for an instrument box ( to keep my two Chalumeau inside).. combined with Sycamore wood veneer( to add tonal contrast).

If you are really wanting to go to town try Satin wood! A fantastic golden yellow, with satin surface. I am lining my box with that Satin wood veneer so when lid is removed .. that yellow wood will glow on the eyes🌝

All my veneers were purchased years back from reputable dealer.

Edited October 29, 2024 by SIMON GABRIELOW

[DDF]

As it happens to be sat beside me this is what satinwood looks like on the outside of a box.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

Beautiful wood that's a great example with its lustrous surface.

 

[genepinefield]

A bit off topic.
What do you think would be best wood to make a box to hold the reed pan in the bellows?
I could buy the bellows separately on eBay, but I would need to remove and use the original reed pan box or make new one.

Edited November 7, 2024 by genepinefield

[alex_holden]

3 hours ago, genepinefield said:

A bit off topic.
What do you think would be best wood to make a box to hold the reed pan in the bellows?
I could buy the bellows separately on eBay, but I would need to remove and use the original reed pan box or make new one.

 

If you are talking about replacing the bellows on an existing instrument, it is generally easier to remove the old bellows and reuse the frames unless they are badly damaged. If the previous bellows were attached using PVA or something else that isn't water soluble, you may need to sand the old leather off using a linisher.

 

When making new frames, I use a light and strong softwood like spruce. I pick and choose sections of wood that don't have any knots, splits, or other flaws. Traditional bellows frames have tapered walls: the wall is thicker on the edge that meets the bellows and thinner where it meets the action box. I find that it's important to size the ends of the pieces before gluing them together, because if you don't the end-grain spruce will soak up the glue and you get weak joints. Vintage instruments seem to usually have the joints reinforced by a single angled spline in each corner, but I prefer to fit several straight splines.

[holdyourponies]

On 11/7/2024 at 9:46 AM, alex_holden said:

 

If you are talking about replacing the bellows on an existing instrument, it is generally easier to remove the old bellows and reuse the frames unless they are badly damaged. If the previous bellows were attached using PVA or something else that isn't water soluble, you may need to sand the old leather off using a linisher.

 

When making new frames, I use a light and strong softwood like spruce. I pick and choose sections of wood that don't have any knots, splits, or other flaws. Traditional bellows frames have tapered walls: the wall is thicker on the edge that meets the bellows and thinner where it meets the action box. I find that it's important to size the ends of the pieces before gluing them together, because if you don't the end-grain spruce will soak up the glue and you get weak joints. Vintage instruments seem to usually have the joints reinforced by a single angled spline in each corner, but I prefer to fit several straight splines.

 

Do you have an opinion on quilted maple vs walnut? Does it make so much a difference? (Especially on a hybrid)

[alex_holden]

18 minutes ago, holdyourponies said:

 

Do you have an opinion on quilted maple vs walnut? Does it make so much a difference? (Especially on a hybrid)

 

For a bellows frame? You won't be able to see it under the leather so I'd go with whatever is lighter, cheaper, and/or easier to work with. Given those two options, I'd probably choose walnut.

[holdyourponies]

13 minutes ago, alex_holden said:

 

For a bellows frame? You won't be able to see it under the leather so I'd go with whatever is lighter, cheaper, and/or easier to work with. Given those two options, I'd probably choose walnut.

 

I meant more the exposed parts like the ends. Curious. Do makers typically use the same frame wood as ends woods.

[Jake Middleton-Metcalfe]

The Victorians usually used sycamore for the internal woodwork of the action box and reed pan, assuming it was one of the nicer instruments - and the exposed edges of the action box had a decorative thin outer veneer. The sycamore is a quite stable, relatively light in weight wood which (I am told) has good acoustic properties. The bellows frames were made of some sort of pine or other softwood - spruce is used by Wheatstone nowadays but it might have varied in the past I don't know. The ends of the nicer instruments - if wooden were an in house made plywood. All of the later Aeolas and Edeophones had plywood ends, I am not entirely sure what wood was used for those but although black it probably was a dyed wood and not actually ebony which is a bit brittle when thin. Basically its not a good idea to use solid un laminated wood as it will likely crack at some point once a complex pattern is cut into it. Only the cheaper instruments in the past had solid wood ends or instruments with very simple fret patterns.

 

Most people building today are probably following the same sort of approach as the Victorians, but I can't be sure of that entirely. 

[David Lay]

You spoke of getting on a wait-list, so I expect your maker will have his way of making the components you cannot see.  He will offer aesthetic options for the trim you can see from appropriate and available hardwoods.  Choose what you think is most attractive to you from what the maker offers.  Keep in mind, once you make your selection, that many woods will change color when exposed to sunlight (UV).  Bright colors generally become more subdued.  (Purpleheart looks brown when cut, turns vibrant purple quickly and then slowly turns to nearly black.). It's best to keep your concertina in its case when not being played for this reason - and for other reasons as well.