Roughing It Up.....?

[tom leahy]

Hello there, I am tempting to open up my c/g lachenal.Ive purchased the Elliott Maintenance Manual and ready to go.As I got to the reassambly section he mentioned gently roughing up the compressed gasket with a screwdriver to help it seal better for less air loss.I remember a post a month or so ago from someone loosing air in a lachenal and a member "keeper" responded..The best thing I did for my lachenal was roughing up the leather or somthing to help reseal the ends for better a better air seal.My lachenal is not very air tight if I do the upside down and let go test it takes 13 seconds for it to be fully open with 5 bellows.So anyway a do i just move the gasket around with a screwdriver or scrape the top not understanding the way to safely do this.Or any thing else to look for, Slante.......Tom

[Theo]

You just need to scrape gently over the surface of the chamois leather on the end of the bellows frame to raise the nap. It may also be worthwhile to lift out the reedpans and look at the material on the inside surfaces of the bellows frames. You should see the pattern of the edges of the reedpan pressed into the leather. Gently scrape here to raise the nap in the compressed areas. If the reedpand is a snug fit and needs to be pulled firmly to remove it then you probably do not need to do this. If the reedpand is very loose to the extent that it just drops out, then this method will not cure the problem, though it may help.

 

An equally common route for air to escape is via the pads.

[d.elliott]

Leo,

 

Now why did I not think of describing what was meant like what you did, so effectively!

 

D