Jewish Leprechaun Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 I'm trying to make a concertina and this is the last thing that stands in my way. How should I go about making levers? I know that there are a lot of repairers and makers here, so any suggestions would be great -Lep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik Müller Posted January 2, 2009 Share Posted January 2, 2009 I'm trying to make a concertina and this is the last thing that stands in my way. How should I go about making levers? I know that there are a lot of repairers and makers here, so any suggestions would be great -Lep Hi, Lep - "this is the last thing that stands in my way" - phew! That's was easy - could have been much worse... I am joking, of course - There seems to be two basic ways: flat levers, cut from brass sheet and round levers, either brass or aluminium. I cut mine from 1 mm brass (today I would have chosen 1.5 mm, not that I have had any trouble from 1, but still...hmm). The round ones require that they get a whack in the middle to create a flat section - look at Chris Ghent's excellent close-up. (I have trouble seing this work with brass, unless it is soft. But I know that the world is filled with old instruments with round brass levers. But soft contradicts the whole purpose of the lever. As I see it, round ones have the benefit that you can thread them at the tip, to accommodate the little leather pearl. The square/rectangular ones (from sheet) do not make this easy (yes - I know: the world is full of non-round levers with something that looks like a thread at the tip. It may be something else - I am curious to know). The posts - cut from brass sheet, rivet to the lever. I had special, terrifically expensive, round posts made, because I had a feeling that they should be moveable. Turned out to be a good idea. Again, Chris has a brilliant photo of the finished result. Rambling finished - - hope it was any use. /Henrik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon C. Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I'm trying to make a concertina and this is the last thing that stands in my way. How should I go about making levers? I know that there are a lot of repairers and makers here, so any suggestions would be great -Lep Hi, I am making mine from brass with my CNC mill. I haven't mounted them on the 20 key Lachenal yet, have to re-cut the posts. How many do you need? Jon http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=8408 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon C. Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I'm trying to make a concertina and this is the last thing that stands in my way. How should I go about making levers? I know that there are a lot of repairers and makers here, so any suggestions would be great -Lep Hi, Lep - "this is the last thing that stands in my way" - phew! That's was easy - could have been much worse... I am joking, of course - There seems to be two basic ways: flat levers, cut from brass sheet and round levers, either brass or aluminium. I cut mine from 1 mm brass (today I would have chosen 1.5 mm, not that I have had any trouble from 1, but still...hmm). The round ones require that they get a whack in the middle to create a flat section - look at Chris Ghent's excellent close-up. (I have trouble seing this work with brass, unless it is soft. But I know that the world is filled with old instruments with round brass levers. But soft contradicts the whole purpose of the lever. As I see it, round ones have the benefit that you can thread them at the tip, to accommodate the little leather pearl. The square/rectangular ones (from sheet) do not make this easy (yes - I know: the world is full of non-round levers with something that looks like a thread at the tip. It may be something else - I am curious to know). The posts - cut from brass sheet, rivet to the lever. I had special, terrifically expensive, round posts made, because I had a feeling that they should be moveable. Turned out to be a good idea. Again, Chris has a brilliant photo of the finished result. Rambling finished - - hope it was any use. /Henrik I would think that the flat section would be made, by pressing them using a die and hydraulic jack. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewish Leprechaun Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 I'm trying to make a concertina and this is the last thing that stands in my way. How should I go about making levers? I know that there are a lot of repairers and makers here, so any suggestions would be great -Lep Hi, I am making mine from brass with my CNC mill. I haven't mounted them on the 20 key Lachenal yet, have to re-cut the posts. How many do you need? Jon http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=8408 I need 33 levers. I plan on making the posts out of brass rod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I'm trying to make a concertina and this is the last thing that stands in my way. Are you saying you've got the reed making process under control? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon C. Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I'm trying to make a concertina and this is the last thing that stands in my way. Are you saying you've got the reed making process under control? Ya, he is already way a head of me... I could probably cut a set of action levers for you when I do mine, but I would need to know the lengths, and hight. The ones that I am making are for a 5 1/2". so they would be much shorter then yours. I guess we could make them long enough to be cut down if need be, but it woudl be hard to stretch them... Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik Müller Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 ...Are you saying you've got the reed making process under control? .... Oh, ho-ho - Bull's Eye! /Henrik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewish Leprechaun Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 I'm trying to make a concertina and this is the last thing that stands in my way. Are you saying you've got the reed making process under control? Ya, he is already way a head of me... I could probably cut a set of action levers for you when I do mine, but I would need to know the lengths, and hight. The ones that I am making are for a 5 1/2". so they would be much shorter then yours. I guess we could make them long enough to be cut down if need be, but it woudl be hard to stretch them... Jon Sorry to disappoint, but I cheated and bought reeds. For my first concertina, I wasn't even going to think about making my own reeds. I'll have to get back to you with the measurements for the levers but that sounds good to me. What exactly do you mean by height and how much do you think you would charge per lever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon C. Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I'm trying to make a concertina and this is the last thing that stands in my way. Are you saying you've got the reed making process under control? Ya, he is already way a head of me... I could probably cut a set of action levers for you when I do mine, but I would need to know the lengths, and hight. The ones that I am making are for a 5 1/2". so they would be much shorter then yours. I guess we could make them long enough to be cut down if need be, but it woudl be hard to stretch them... Jon Sorry to disappoint, but I cheated and bought reeds. For my first concertina, I wasn't even going to think about making my own reeds. I'll have to get back to you with the measurements for the levers but that sounds good to me. What exactly do you mean by height and how much do you think you would charge per lever. I just ment the pivot point, they would all be the same. with my levers I am replacing the sloppy lachenal type, and using the same profile hight as the existing ones. I guess thye would probably be the same hight as the ones I am making. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Johnson Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 /quote]I would think that the flat section would be made, by pressing them using a die and hydraulic jack. Jon Chris started out using a vise to mash the flat, but it was a little hard on the vise. I believe he uses a small "fly" press now. ( big screw in a heavy frame with an arm with a weight on it attached to the screws end. Give it a swing and momentum does the rest ) Dana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewish Leprechaun Posted January 6, 2009 Author Share Posted January 6, 2009 That's a good idea, smashing the wire with a vise, I'll have to give that a try. Thank you for the offer to make me levers, Jon, but on second thought I think I can find a good way to do it myself. Does anybody have any lever patterns that I can use and does anybody know where I can get steel or brass wire that's as thick as I would need to make levers out of? Also back to the other method of making levers where is a good place to get 1.5mm thick brass? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 does anybody know where I can get steel or brass wire t....... where is a good place to get 1.5mm thick brass? Try looking for model engineering suppliers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 .......................and does anybody know where I can get steel or brass wire that's as thick as I would need to make levers out of? Also back to the other method of making levers where is a good place to get 1.5mm thick brass? In the US, I would go to KS Engineering. Available from here: http://www.ksmetals.com/RetailLocations.html or: http://www.ksmetals.com/ On the bottom of the page is a size chart in PDF: http://www.ksmetals.com/CutToLength.html Good quality metal. Sheets, Tubing, Rods. Thanks Leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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