Drilling holes for wrist straps.

[Stephen DOUGLASS]

 I am considering retro fitting wrist straps to a concertina to see how it feels. I have done some searches 'here', but haven't found anything directly related on how to actually do it.

The making of the straps, I think is absolutely doable, but drilling holes into the side of the concertina, well... that fills me with trepidation. Could this be a 'home' fix or do I need and expert?

[Richard Mellish]

There was a former contributor on here who I think got banned for expressing his opinions a little too strongly, but who had some respectable ideas about ergonomics as applied to English concertinas. Dare I ask whether you have considered his ergnomic advice? Other sources of advice are also available, as they say, including how to avoid or minimise the need for new holes.

[wunks]

I'm utilizing the end bolt on the thumb side to anchor the strap with its tail turned back and under towards the center of the box. This on a duet mind you and not Ideal as it stresses the end bolt somewhat.  I keep thinking of a "blind" anchor consisting of a thin metal tag through a thin slot at a convenient location ( depending on the instrument ) flush to the inside of the side wall and fastened thereat.  

[Stephen DOUGLASS]

5 hours ago, wunks said:

I'm utilizing the end bolt on the thumb side

Yeah Wunks...I think adding a strap with what sounds like 3 points of anchor (thumb and wrist torque) in the same place might add too much stress. I'm currently researching threaded inserts for wood. But still not sure about how, or even if to proceed.

[wunks]

I should mention that I only do this for the left hand as I'm a left knee rest player so that side acts as anchor and the right is the kite flying free.  Or keel and sail if you will.  The stress on the end bolt is minimal but against the threads.  A blind anchor places the stress against the bolt ( or screw ) shank.

Edited January 13 by wunks

[wes williams]

10 hours ago, Richard Mellish said:

There was a former contributor on here who I think got banned for expressing his opinions a little too strongly, but who had some respectable ideas about ergonomics as applied to English concertinas. Dare I ask whether you have considered his ergnomic advice? Other sources of advice are also available, as they say, including how to avoid or minimise the need for new holes.

Start here for an early article ....

[caj]

23 hours ago, Stephen DOUGLASS said:

 I am considering retro fitting wrist straps to a concertina to see how it feels. I have done some searches 'here', but haven't found anything directly related on how to actually do it.

The making of the straps, I think is absolutely doable, but drilling holes into the side of the concertina, well... that fills me with trepidation. Could this be a 'home' fix or do I need and expert?

 

Hi, do you have a photo of one of these wrist straps?  There's a lot of ways a wrist strap could connect to a concertina depending on its geometry, and I think we'd need a picture to offer any useful advice on how it could be made to fit.

 

Also, could you comment on the problem the wrist straps are intended to solve, if it's left or right hand, etc?  I had a problem once with a concertina where my left hand kept sliding out of the handrest, and my solution was to make a tiny elastic wrist strap --- basically a glorified rubber band --- and clip it to the existing hand strap instead of attaching it to the box.  This was just enough to fix the problem, without any surgery applied to the box.

[Stephen DOUGLASS]

31 minutes ago, caj said:

Also, could you comment on the problem the wrist straps are intended to solve, if it's left or right hand, etc?  I had a problem once with a concertina where my left hand kept sliding out of the handrest, and my solution was to make a tiny elastic wrist strap --- basically a glorified rubber band --- and clip it to the existing hand strap instead of attaching it to the box.  This was just enough to fix the problem, without any surgery applied to the box.

Caj...I'm looking for extra support to relieve stress on the left thumb which is starting to develop 'twinges'. Want to mitigate before things get worse. Don't want to stop playing. It sounds like your fix is for Anglo or Duet, if not, or you have a solution for English without drilling I'm 'all ears'.

[Richard Mellish]

Some people manage to attach neck straps to English concertinas. Those have their own pros and cons, but do they offer clues about attachment?

[David Barnert]

1 hour ago, Richard Mellish said:

Some people manage to attach neck straps to English concertinas. Those have their own pros and cons, but do they offer clues about attachment?

 

They usually attach them to the screws that are already there for the thumb loops.

[Stephen DOUGLASS]

17 minutes ago, David Barnert said:

They usually attach them to the screws that are already there for the thumb loops.

David,That may be the first step at attempt, but from what I have seen on other concertina's (and there is a recent Baritone for sale below as an example) is a strap with two separate fixed points, each side.

[d.elliott]

The best way to fit neck straps to a concertina is to utilise the upper end bolt, I fit small brass lugs situated at the split line between the two halves of the action boxes. This ties the weight into the structure of the concertina and gives a good balance in play. If you use the thumb strap adjustment screw anchorage point or the thumb strap loops you loose balance and risk doing damage to the strap assembly.

 

the Company called C.A.Cornish based in Street, UK sell English system wrist straps. As wrist straps were a regular feature on traditional instruments I measured the locations of wrist strap adjustment screws and wrist strap 'tail' screws. I found variations between Concertinas (6 sided), Aeolas, and Edeophones both in wrist angle and positioning.

 

If Stephen wants to pm me with the concertina details (treble, baritone etc.) I will see what can be done to help him

[Stephen DOUGLASS]

Thanks for the offer David, I just saw this thread, apologies....In the end I sent the concertina  to Bob Snope, (so as not do any amateur damage)....just arrived back,and a very nice job he did too.

Concertina strap.psd

[d.elliott]

neatly done! just don't have the wrist straps too tight. 

[David Barnert]

On 2/18/2025 at 1:27 PM, Stephen DOUGLASS said:

Thanks for the offer David, I just saw this thread, apologies....In the end I sent the concertina  to Bob Snope, (so as not do any amateur damage)....just arrived back,and a very nice job he did too.

Concertina strap.psd 1.25 MB · 31 downloads

 

FYI, if you had posted it as a jpg rather than in Photoshop’s native format, it would have

• appeared right here on the page
• taken up much less of your allotted storage space on c.net
• been viewable to those who don’t have Photoshop

[Richard Mellish]

FWIW I don't have Photoshop but my computer managed to find an application that could display the picture. However I endorse the recommendation to use jpg. Photoshop and any other photo-processing application should be able to export in that format.

[Stephen DOUGLASS]

3 hours ago, David Barnert said:

FYI, if you had posted it as a jpg rather than in Photoshop’s native format, it would have

• appeared right here on the page
• taken up much less of your allotted storage space on c.net
• been viewable to those who don’t have Photoshop

Thanks for some reason, it defaulted to psd (oops) ...I should have checked. So as a follow up question is there a way to remove images posted in the 'history' so as to free up space.

I'v reposted a jpg.

IMG_7576 (1).jpf

[Stephen DOUGLASS]

Happened again...seems photoshop's version of jpeg, (the only option I get is jpeg 2000) is not that universal. I'm 'giving up'