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[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

Let me share a cockup, as a warning to others.
When trimming the edges of the new pallet facings, I mistakenly used scissors.. I have now found that this undercut the leather facing, and left a sort of chamfered edge, which hasn't sealed properly.
So I have had to strip off the new felt, (Pig of a job) and replace it. I shall always use a scalpel in future.


Sir John

[Tone Dumb Greg]

Is Arkansas stone similar to the Scottish water of Ayr stone that toolmakers in the UK use?

[Steve_freereeder]

Let me share a cockup, as a warning to others.
When trimming the edges of the new pallet facings, I mistakenly used scissors.. I have now found that this undercut the leather facing, and left a sort of chamfered edge, which hasn't sealed properly.
So I have had to strip off the new felt, (Pig of a job) and replace it. I shall always use a scalpel in future.

Hmm...
I often use scissors for this job and have never had the problem you describe. My scissors have narrow thin blades and I keep them very sharp by touching up the edges on a diamond stone. When using them to trim pallet facings, I ensure that the cut is perpendicular to the face, so that the leather is not undercut.

[Chris Rayner]

Is Arkansas stone similar to the Scottish water of Ayr stone that toolmakers in the UK use?

It’s a quartz whetstone usually used with oil.  Wikipedia will tell you all you want to know here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpening_stone

[Rob2Hook]

Used to get arkansas stones free-issue from the works stores.  They are translucent white and very smooth to the touch, we used them dry and simply stroked the cutting edge of craft blades and scalpels to hone them. 

Rob.

[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

Is the glue from a hot glue gun suitable for running a bead of glue round the edges of the fondo, and for sealing off the odd hole where the screws have come through?

Sir John

[Lester]

Is the glue from a hot glue gun suitable for running a bead of glue round the edges of the fondo, and for sealing off the odd hole where the screws have come through?

Sir John

I use PVA for fondo sealing as it can be forced into any cracks which hot glue can't. For old screw holes I use cocktail sticks and superglue.

[rees]

Definitely PVA for fondo sealing, it has much better penetration than hot glue.

[Theo]

No I don’t think so,  you need something that will run into the corner and it needs to be liquid to be sure of sealing well.  I would also avoid pva on older boxes that are made with animal glue because it doesn’t adhere very well. Much better to use a compatible glue such as hide glue or fish glue if you want to be assured of a reliable long term fix.

[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

Thanks lester. I really meant screw ends. In a couple of places the tip of a screw is showing on the inner side,

SJ

[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

No I don’t think so,  you need something that will run into the corner and it needs to be liquid to be sure of sealing well.  I would also avoid pva on older boxes that are made with animal glue because it doesn’t adhere very well. Much better to use a compatible glue such as hide glue or fish glue if you want to be assured of a reliable long term fix.

Thanks Theo. This is the model with the metal corners. the wreath top and bottom on either front, and the metal cover plate on the treble end.

SJ

[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

OK. I have obviously done something wrong here. I have just adjusted the treble button travel, and button heights. Now all the refaced pallets that were previously airtight, are blowing air everywhere.  I am tempted to detach all the pallets, and then glue them back on again when I know they are flat on the fondo, making sure the stem of the lever isn't twisted when I put it back into the slot.
It's not just one pallet, it's several. What else could I try?


Sir John

[Theo]

You do need to get the button heights approximately right before attaching the pallets.  I usually do this by putting the pallets in position and letting the levers hold them in place by spring tension.  Then after fixing the pallets make any small final adjustments.   I suppose you could use some masking tape to hold the pallets in place temporarily.  In your present position it will almost certainly be quicker to take off all the pallets and re-fix them than to try to bend the levers to get the pallets lying flat.

[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

Thanks Theo, that's what I'm in the process of doing. We learn by our mistakes eh !

SJ

[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

New problem. pallet rusted onto lever, and can't shift it !

Sir John

[Lester]

New problem. pallet rusted onto lever, and can't shift it !

Sir John

Yep, right pain isn't it. I usually get round it by scraping as much visible rust off with a scalpel and then trying to remove the pallet. If this doesn't work I apply heat from my big soldering Iron and that usually does the trick.

[Graham Spencer]

New problem. pallet rusted onto lever, and can't shift it !

Sir John

Yep, right pain isn't it. I usually get round it by scraping as much visible rust off with a scalpel and then trying to remove the pallet. If this doesn't work I apply heat from my big soldering Iron and that usually does the trick.

I always try rust removal first, but at the end of the day making a replacement pallet is a quick, easy and almost cost-free job, so I just get the old one off by any means to hand, clean up the lever and fit a replacement.  I happen to have a stock of well-seasoned pine and lime (depending on whether the originals were soft or hard wood) a bandsaw and a belt sander, so a new pallet is a 5-minute job, but it would be just as easy, if not quite as quick, with hand tools.

Graham

[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

As has been said, it's a pain. I eventually unhitched the springs, undid the screws, and that way I could get hold of it . It was one of the two small square middle ones, on the bass end of an old varnished wood Hohner. Can't get at em for levers.
So that helped me get at the levers to de-rust, so all in all, quite a satisfactory solution
Thanks for the suggestions folks.

Sir John