Suspect reed pan shrinkage in dry air

[Leah Velleman]

I have an anglo concertina — a 2024 ICC Eirù Silver with wood ends, if it matters — in which one reed pan has pulled slightly away from the inner walls of the end. (Evidence: It leaks air, and if you take off both ends and the left reed pan, stand in a dark room, and shine a flashlight through the left side of the bellows, very thin lines of light are visible along two edges of the right reed pan.)

 

In hindsight, this isn't shocking, since I live in a dry place and wood can indeed shrink here. I've certainly learned my lesson and I'll keep it better humidified in the future.

 

But in the present moment, what should I do about it? Might the first step be to put the concertina in a humidified room and see if it un-shrinks? Or would that risk further damage? I can also attempt a repair myself if it's likely to be easy, or ship it off for repairs if it's likely to be hard, though frustratingly I'd be shipping it a fair distance now that the Button Box is gone.

[Frank Edgley]

Pictures would be helpful. Traditional reedpans are completely different than hybrid-type reedpans. On a related topic: Humidifiers can be a dangerous thing. Usually, they introduce moisture into the concertina and can cause serious rust problems with the reeds. I had a concertina sent to me not only with a bit of surface rust, but deep pitting. The reeds were severely damaged, and were way out of tune. Yes, the reeds could be re-tuned, but this caused a significant shortening of the life of the reeds.

The warping of the reedpans is a serious problem. When I only did repairs over 22 years ago, I saw a lot of warped reedpans, usually on cheaper Lachenal anglos, but only one Jeffries instrument.; very few Wheatstones The difference was the wood used.  Warped reedpans on traditional-style concertina can be difficult to set right because the dividing walls of the reed chambers must touch the action board or the air pressure in each chamber will not be the same resulting in duller tone and less volume.

[David Lay]

Humidity can be good if care is taken.  I made a recent post regarding what is appropriate.  I will guess that you live in New England, like I do.  The moisture in the air can vary extremely.  Foggy spring mornings can result in condensation on anything that is cooler than the foggy air.  Control the humidity in the case with dessicant in the summer and a small (!) humidifier in the winter.  Get a humidity sensor to assure you are in the 40-60% relative humidity range at room temperature.  To address Frank's valid concern, keep your concertina at room temperature.  When you leave it in the car to drop in temperature, moisture in the case/ concertina will condense on the cold sufaces - such as the reed tongues.  That will corrode them.  (Condensation is the enemy here.)

The Boveda packs work well except during extreme days.

https://www.amazon.com/Boveda-Musical-Instrument-Humidity-Control/dp/B076H4SY2D/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?crid=SF5MQKPRKL4I&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sP8OtJhQUky3QVUlEKAr1UeSpWmrQkxNY8wjaFqwWovN5KB3UubdMDWvyB30xDw3ZyIg-DYYC3WFGk97WuyOF-jR5sGv36oDoCbSrlrMXK46sJgJe5ywmHlvIbOMUGUZznq-dEJqrIrMOJ-OWOFybS5Jdmi55skPLeO545qhiAdQcqdbYlwcLOjm0RPVXCN6aDotVcMXAEOZYfKMu90ZJg.OJWQfhkHQZAyVx5JZJJwKL_IsRJuV1vx3ayFabsZcXo&dib_tag=se&keywords=instrument+humidifier+packs&qid=1737307329&sprefix=instrument+humidifier%2Caps%2C125&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

 

https://www.amazon.com/Hygrometer-Thermometer-Humidity-Greenhouse-Fahrenheit/dp/B0CXHV22GD/ref=mp_s_a_1_13?crid=2ZLKRHYCZJEHP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2RqOGT-8qafMWeaiTySvh53fYWszsnbP0ZYh-P89TFeywACqU7PFa3bOx1JYCYk9CaXBRc3xROnewGXB83UNR4uhyVmAM3wemZElItpxxt-NDti2z3nr_3yUiqeEnJOZkutbsuCTOnTKEbnzd6hjxhiofFyRsOehslfRXVP2HsXtDUL5imz4wtj4wBN9HcmuFwzgeWyljOGs6ybuZYK2Pw.aUJZV7thrjTUfpq95h6cCA9dS2Fl_Y3Epv4L1Z4aghw&dib_tag=se&keywords=humidity+sensor&qid=1737307136&sprefix=humidity%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-13

Edited January 19, 2025 by David Lay

[Tiposx]

Hi Leah

I have the  ICC "Vintage" model. I just took a look inside to remind myself how it is made. This may be similar to yours or not, I have no idea.

Mine has a solid reed pan made of what looks like maple. The rest of the woodwork seems to be laminated. The gaskets are chamois, and the construction design is what I would describe as traditional.

So if my reed pan was leaking air around the sides I would lift the chamois around the inside, and pack it with card of suitable thickness, just enough to seal the gap when the chamois was put back into position and re- glued. Another way I have seen is to lightly glue a ring of brown paper on top of the chamois. The edges of the reed pan would seal against that.

You shouldn't have to get that involved though, it is a job for an experienced fettler.

 

[David Lay]

32 minutes ago, Tiposx said:

Hi Leah

I have the  ICC "Vintage" model. I just took a look inside to remind myself how it is made. This may be similar to yours or not, I have no idea.

Mine has a solid reed pan made of what looks like maple. The rest of the woodwork seems to be laminated. The gaskets are chamois, and the construction design is what I would describe as traditional.

So if my reed pan was leaking air around the sides I would lift the chamois around the inside, and pack it with card of suitable thickness, just enough to seal the gap when the chamois was put back into position and re- glued. Another way I have seen is to lightly glue a ring of brown paper on top of the chamois. The edges of the reed pan would seal against that.

You shouldn't have to get that involved though, it is a job for an experienced fettler.

 

One potential danger, however:  The wood may expand again once the cold dry winter is gone and our humidity dew point temperature goes back to 60 or higher.  Best to get the case humidity where it should be for awhile and then evaluate the needed repair.  Expanding wood after the fix just might make the fit too tight.

Edited January 19, 2025 by David Lay

[Tiposx]

This video shows how the Eiru Silver is constructed.

 

[Kevin Knippa]

I own an ICC Vintage and have scrutinized the videos on the ICC website over and over.

 

I do not believe the internals of the Vintage are different than the internals of the Eiru models. The differences are in the reeds, the bellows and the ends. The action, action pan and reed pan all appear to be constructed using the same materials and in the same way.

 

You can email Sean Garvey at irishconcertinacompany@gmail.com if you would like to hear his opinion of how you might proceed.