Melodeon.net Forums
Discussions => Instrument Design, Construction and Repair => Topic started by: Peadar on December 14, 2019, 09:44:52 PM
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I suppose it was/is inevitable. A gentle stream of air under my chin and I saw a small hole had opened in one of the corner leathers of the bellows right next to the RH bellows frme.
The melodeon in question is pre-war (i.e. "Made in Germany" and A=435). It is also by far the easiest playing chromatic I own.
So....is there a recommended solution?
Is it: Steam off bellows tape etc. Steam off bellows decorative paper. steam off corner diamond. glue new corner diamond made of (?) in place. new papers and tapes...
Or: Cover over with masking tape/elastoplast?
Or?????
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I usually just get some of Charlies replacement diamonds, cut out a suitable sized patch and, using proper leather glue (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tandy-Leather-Factory-Eco-Flo-Multi-Colour/dp/B003W0GFTU/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?keywords=Fiebing%27s+Leathercraft+Cement&qid=1576360357&sr=8-1-fkmr0), stick it to the inside of the existing diamond.
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Yes patch in the inside with any thin soft leather. Thin glove leather is ideal.
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I'm not a profesinal but spend a lot of time on older bellows,best to follow Theo's and Lester's advise I think..
I've done a total restoratiaon on old hohner bellows just to see if I could,final old-new bellow was good but time,meterial inculuding metal corners I have spend just didn't justifed the total.. I could have bouhgt a new set insted :-\
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Thanks Gents,
Glove leather sounds like the way to go on this one.
Leather glue... I shall have to think about. Would gorilla glue do the job? (or is this going to be one of those things best obtained on line?)
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Click on the blue writing in Lester's post - it is a link to a supplier.
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Or this
https://www.artisanleather.co.uk/fiebings-leather-cement-118ml-1325-p.html
Or on eBay there are various suppliers of the same product.
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If it has no metal corners at the point where it is glued to the frame - some accordions are made like this - and if it is leaking right on the corner, you could try fitting metal corners. This was a solution that worked for me recently.
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If the bellows and its leather gussets are, as you say, 80+ years old it is probably a good idea to restore the whole thing properly, rather than repair one or two holes today and wait for the next ones to appear...
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If the bellows and its leather gussets are, as you say, 80+ years old it is probably a good idea to restore the whole thing properly, rather than repair one or two holes today and wait for the next ones to appear...
Is there a technique or trick to remove/replace (possibly all) the gussets without damaging the cardboard and decorative paper ? Or do you mean new replacement bellows with period-correct paper and tape and hopefully recycle the corners ??
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Is there a technique or trick to remove/replace (possibly all) the gussets without damaging the cardboard and decorative paper ? Or do you mean new replacement bellows with period-correct paper and tape and hopefully recycle the corners ??
It depends on the general condition of the actual bellows. Paper is, of course, more difficult to deal with than textiles and may have to be sacrificed. But if you want to keep the original decoration/pattern, scanning and printing isn't much of a problem nowadays. From my experience, what causes most headaches when trying to restore antique bellows are unsuccessful/unprofessional attempts at remedying certain problems made in the past.
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It depends on the general condition of the actual bellows. Paper is, of course, more difficult to deal with than textiles and may have to be sacrificed. But if you want to keep the original decoration/pattern, scanning and printing isn't much of a problem nowadays. From my experience, what causes most headaches when trying to restore antique bellows are unsuccessful/unprofessional attempts at remedying certain problems made in the past.
Thanks for this Diatonix - food for thought.
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It depends on the general condition of the actual bellows. Paper is, of course, more difficult to deal with than textiles and may have to be sacrificed. But if you want to keep the original decoration/pattern, scanning and printing isn't much of a problem nowadays. From my experience, what causes most headaches when trying to restore antique bellows are unsuccessful/unprofessional attempts at remedying certain problems made in the past.
I am thinking about this one before I do anything. I guess recreated paers would need to be printed using a laser jet (reasonably colourfast) on an archive quality paper.
In this case will try a small patch repair in the first instance. So far my fettling, apart from making a tuning bellows has been limited to rewaxing displaced reeds, a couple of gasket renewals and tuning one or two replacements for broken reeds.