Unusual reed frame

[Peter Smith]

I have a 5"  Lachenal 20-button anglo.

One of the reed frames has a small notch at the tip of the reed.

I have never seen that before.

Does anyone know why it is there and what is its purpose?

The reed is A5 and the underside of the reed frame looks like any other reed.

Many thanks

Peter

 

 

 

Edited January 31 by Peter Smith
Amend wording

[Matt Heumann]

Perhaps it was an experiment: instead of profiling (arching) the reed to allow air flow to begin, it went through the notch? Can't think of any other reason other than the fact that some tiny reeds will "stall" with too much pressure and this might remedy the problem?

Definitely unusual! I'll bet our resident concertina makers and historians have insights.

 

[Jake Middleton-Metcalfe]

I can tell you the answer (or at least an educated guess) if you give the following information: 

1: what is the length of the reed tongue

2: what is the length of the reed frame

 

Sometimes there are intentional interesting design features and sometimes ... The worker was heavy handed with the letter punch - with the above information I should be able to tell you which it is.

Edited January 31 by Jake Middleton-Metcalfe

[ttonon]

Peter,

 

I believe this is a reed made by a fellow who developed a technology that he believed increased the volume of piccolo reeds. The hole at the tip of the tongue was supposed to increase the acoustic wave that rebounds when the airflow stagnates upon striking the reed due to the tongue shutting off airflow through the slot (vent).

 

I don't recall the inventors name, but he called this design, High Output Piccolo Voice (HOPV), but you may be able to search out a patent for it. I recall that about 20 years ago, when he was getting too old to pursue this invention, he offered the technology up for free, and I don't think anyone took him up on it. 

 

I can see an argument how such a thing could work, but at the time, I didn't have the time to attempt verification. 

 

Upon a closer look, I may be mistaken because the slot appears to be simply an erroneous extension of the initial milling groove to create the slot. The HOPV that I recall had round holes drilled in a position slightly removed from the slot. But then again, the approach here may be a convenient way to make such an effect with minimum machining. 

 

Best regards,

Tom

www.bluesboz.biz

Edited February 1 by ttonon
Stating my doubts.

[Peter Smith]

Many thanks for your replies and suggestions.

Jake,

The reed is 18mm long & the frame 26.5mm in length.

Very similar dimensions to another A5 Lachenal reed.

 

I was just curious about this slot as I have never seen it before.

The slot seems to have been made on purpose (rather than accidentally), as it central & uniform in shape (~0.5mm deep by ~1mm square).

 

Thanks again for your suggestions.

 

Peter

[Jake Middleton-Metcalfe]

Sorry for the delay in responding.

 

Those are the dimensions I would have expected for a lachenal A5 reed. Sorry I had hoped to give a decent conclusion but...

 

I have never seen someone do this as a way to improve performance of a reed, though as Ttonon says it could have been done to improve performance, In a way I have never seen before.

 

Basically the way these reed frames were made is: using a press tool and fairly heavy duty press (5 or more ton) 1 the lozenge shape is stamped out with a press tool 2 the slot is stamped out then 3 the form tool squashed the reed frame so the inside slot is angled as well as the outside of the frames 4 a draft tool is forced through to clean up the slot by widening it to final size and then if we are lucky hand filing on the slot.. it's usually something like that anyway. What with all the pressing something could have got in the press and made an indentation there by accident.

 

Then again maybe it was known as one of those tricks of the trade by some on the shop floor "oh if you punch a bit ere mate, it sounds better, the boss said so".

 

Were any other reeds in the instrument given the same treatment? Or does it particularly sound different or perform better/play faster than the other reeds? That might give some indication.

 

 

[Peter Smith]

Many thanks, Jake. 

I didn't realise the reed frames required so much work.

 

The reed sounds similar to other reeds - no noticeable difference in tone, response or how it plays.

I was just curious, as I had never seen a reed frame like this before - so thank you everyone for your thoughts and comments.

 

Peter

[Jake Middleton-Metcalfe]

1 hour ago, Peter Smith said:

Many thanks, Jake. 

I didn't realise the reed frames required so much work.

 

The reed sounds similar to other reeds - no noticeable difference in tone, response or how it plays.

I was just curious, as I had never seen a reed frame like this before - so thank you everyone for your thoughts and comments.

 

Peter

I'm curious too. And always eager to lean new things, much knowledge has been lost over the years on the subject of concertina reeds sadly.