Theo Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 I am trying to make a player out of an old German 28 key concertina. Several reeds are broken, and I have no spare reed tongues of the right size. It looks as if some of the braekages are due to corrosion round the rivet causing the rivet hole to be forced to expand. Brass reed, steel rivet, zinc plate must have lots of scope for electrochemical reactions. Does anyone know where I might be able to buy complete new set of reedplates, or some old ones that I could strip a few reed tongues from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theodore Kloba Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Does anyone know where I might be able to buy complete new set of reedplates, or some old ones that I could strip a few reed tongues from. The only company I know of that might make this type of reedplate is Harmonikas Louny in the Czech Republic. One of their predecessor companies was the German company Dix, who might well have made the originals. They definitely do the "long" zinc plates, but I'm not sure about the brass tongues. Do you have a "junk" brass-reeded melodeon you could scavenge the tongues from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted January 17, 2006 Author Share Posted January 17, 2006 Do you have a "junk" brass-reeded melodeon you could scavenge the tongues from? Just come across some forgotten bits at the back of a shelf which look as if they might do. Found while looking for something else... Nice to meet another Theo(dore), though I'm a Theophilus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik Müller Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 ...The only company I know of that might make this type of reedplate is Harmonikas Louny in the Czech Republic. ... Impressive! Thanks for the link - if there's anybody who are good a machinery and machining, it's the Czechs!/Henrik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m3838 Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Toy Heor accordions have brass reeds and sound impressively well. A local technician over here uses them alot as replacements with good results, he claims. No, he's not bad, he's actially quite good and inventive. Give it a try? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theodore Kloba Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Toy Heor accordions have brass reeds and sound impressively well. I'm guessing you meant to type "Hero". Those and the Schylling button boxes do have brass reeds. I didn't realize they'd be suitable for replacing concertina tongues. Interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike G. Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 anyone here know how to tune a concertina? or how to replace a reed in a german concertina? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted January 18, 2006 Author Share Posted January 18, 2006 Mike, I think you will find a number of people here who can tune a concertina. Replacing a reed in a German concertina is what I am about to do now that I seem to have found some replacements. There are two options I can think of: 1- get a new reedplate if available and swap it for the old one. 2 - take out the rivet, remove the remains of the old reed, fix the new reed in place with a new rivet, tune to correct pitch. Not the simplest job, but ok after a bit of practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 ...fix the new reed in place with a new rivet,.... Not the simplest job, but ok after a bit of practice. And with proper tools? I've never tried it, myself, but I assume it takes something more than an ordinary hammer and screwdriver, especially if you're going to clamp the reed in a position with tolerances measured in hundredths of a millimeter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglogeezer Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 I am trying to make a player out of an old German 28 key concertina. Several reeds are broken, and I have no spare reed tongues of the right size. It looks as if some of the braekages are due to corrosion round the rivet causing the rivet hole to be forced to expand. Brass reed, steel rivet, zinc plate must have lots of scope for electrochemical reactions. Does anyone know where I might be able to buy complete new set of reedplates, or some old ones that I could strip a few reed tongues from. ************ Try David J. Leese at http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/concertinaman/catalogue.htm He has all sorts of spares. Jake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 Thanks Jake, David is one of my regular suppliers. And with proper tools? I've never tried it, myself, but I assume it takes something more than an ordinary hammer and screwdriver, especially if you're going to clamp the reed in a position with tolerances measured in hundredths of a millimeter. I don't use anything fancy. A light hammer, improvised anvil, the reed alignment pretty much takes care of itself if the replacement reed has the same size rivet hole as the original. These ones have 1.5mm rivets, which is the same as light mild steel welding rod, which makes good rivet aterial. I'm photographing the whole process, will post a photographic stroryboard when its done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted January 31, 2006 Author Share Posted January 31, 2006 As promised here are some pictures of the process Comments and suggestions welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henk van Aalten Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 As promised here are some pictures of the process Comments and suggestions welcome. Well done Theo! It says more than a thousand words Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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