Working On Old Bellows

[Robert Booth]

I'm about to grit my teeth and begin trying to shore up the bellows in my old Bastari. They've reached the point where the folds closest to the body collapse on the pull stroke. This is second or possibly third hand. the bellows looked, when I bought it, as though the previous owner had held the instrument close enough to the belly for wear to begin there, then continue to weaken over time.

 

Now it can't be avoided any more.

 

I need any and all advice on how to replace, reinforce, and otherwise strengthen the cardboard inserts which support the two or three folds in question.

 

The bellows are leather. Will I need specific glue to hold the new cards in?

 

Can I make those cards myself out of heavy pasteboard or similar material?

 

Is this a fool's errand? I'm not the handiest guy in the world; my father taught me: "Beat it to fit, paint it to match."

 

Thanks in advance.

Robert

[Richard Morse]

It isn't necessarily weakened/bent cards which are the culprit - usually they're the result.... The problem usually is that the glue between the card and the leather (and fake leather) coverings lets go near the tips/gussets allowing the bellows to extend more so that there is so little contact left with the cards in question that they can't do their thing. The more the bellows extend (the cards get closer to being parallel to the length of the bellows) the easier it is for the cards to bend (bellows implode) because the cards in that orientation are resisting the suction forces side-on. So they bend.

 

It's quite a trick to glue the cards back well as it's hard to get the glue (carpenter's yellow glue is fine for this) between the backs of the cards and their coverings without getting it on the parts that shouldn't be glued (nothing like gluing you bellows shut!). Simply gluing another card to the ones which are damaged won't work, but it will help a little if you glue the coverings on as well. You can also secure stiffer card-like stuff to the insides of the damaged card (think hard plastic like credit card plastic - well scored so that the glue can adhere). But even that isn't going to help without making sure that the original cards are well secured to the coverings.

 

I've seen situations where a wire coat hanger has been inserted in order to stiffen the damaged folds up though that can be bulky - and needs to be well sized as the bellows gets smaller in diameter as it extends.

 

You can try all the aboves - or take the plunge and fix things from the outside. Remove the coverings from the damaged areas and reapply them (or new stuff). Not an easy job for the underskilled and undertooled. The result will probably not be pretty, but it will probably last a lot longer than an inside job.

[Robert Booth]

Thanks, Rich

 

As usual, the first step is to stare at it for a great length of time to let the details soak in.

 

If this doesn't work it'll be a great arguement for getting another concertina, whilst using this one for educational purposes.