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[mselic]

I'm refacing the treble pallets on my HA114. This will be my first time doing this. I purchased the appropriate felt/leather from Charlie Marshall, and they are ready to cut to size. I've read a fair bit about this on the forum, but there seem to be some discrepancies about best practice regarding order of operations (such as re-attaching pallets to arms last). Would anyone be willing to outline the steps in the correct order, please?

[Theo]

1 clean off old leather and sand pallets smooth
2 glue pallets onto felt side of new material. Apply glue to the pallet only and don’t use too much.  Leave to dry
3 cut round pallets with a very sharp blade
4 place palletsvon position
5 bend lever armscto get the desired button height
6 secure pallets to arm.  I use hot melt glue, but other methods are successful too. 

[Lester]

The only thing I would add to Theo's list, which is exactly what I do, is to ensure all the old glue and muck is cleared out of the slot into which the arms fit to ensure the arms go fully in to place when refitting.

[Theo]

Agreed.  A hacksaw blade is a handy tool for that.
And don’t put any glue in the slot when you fix the pallets.

[mselic]

Thank you both. When you say "place pallets in position", I'm assuming the keyboard is attached to the instrument, and the spring tension of the lever arms hold the pallets in place against the box? When the button height is adjusted, hot melt glue is used to fix them in place?

[Lester]

Thank you both. When you say "place pallets in position", I'm assuming the keyboard is attached to the instrument, YES

and the spring tension of the lever arms hold the pallets in place against the box? YES

When the button height is adjusted, hot melt glue is used to fix them in place?YES

[Cam Button]

Do not add glue to the slot.

So pallet in place, arm in slot, just add a bit of hot glue on top of the arm riding in the slot?

[playandteach]

Might I add (if it hasn't already been said), do the main height adjustment before the gluing, and make sure that the pallets are flat before adding the glue.
Sorry if this is obvious.

[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

The clean slot on the pallet is essential, as too tight a fit can affect the lay of the pallet over the holes in the fondo. resulting in an air leak.

SJ

[diatonix]

Before you start, make sure the reed blocks are in place.

[Steve_freereeder]

So pallet in place, arm in slot, just add a bit of hot glue on top of the arm riding in the slot?

Yes.

[Winston Smith]

"Before you start, make sure the reed blocks are in place."

Obviously, I bow to your greater experience, but I cannot help but wonder, "Why?"

[Rog]

I always do an 'air test' before I actually glue the pallets in place. So...assemble the ends with the bellows and pallets in position  and check it is all airtight...use your face near the pallets. It is very sensitive to airflow/and or listen for whistling. Also, before assembling hold the end up to a bright light...it'll show up any marginally positioned pallets. As sure as eggs is eggs if you don’t do this at least one pallet will not be positioned correctly, you'll have an annoying air leak and you'll be doing the above anyway, after you have scratched your head, had a good cursing session and undone the gluing and started again.

[Malcolm Clapp]

"Before you start, make sure the reed blocks are in place."

Obviously, I bow to your greater experience, but I cannot help but wonder, "Why?"

Ditto.

[blackdot1234]

all the info is spot on as usual from great people on this forum i have done a lot of this work the only thing i do  diffrent  is i attach the pallet to the arm with wax so it is easy to adjust pallets to achive air tightness  good luck with it

[diatonix]

"Before you start, make sure the reed blocks are in place."

Obviously, I bow to your greater experience, but I cannot help but wonder, "Why?"

Some boxes, especially larger ones and 4 v. instruments with their long pallets (and definitely the much larger chromatic accordions) are more susceptible than others, but the fact remains that 21 or more levers together exert considerable pressure on the fondo, tending to bend it inwards. Putting the blocks back in place after refacing the pallets may result in annoying leakage.
(I'd also like to add that, personally, I prefer  filling the slot with glue (or reed wax), after having made sure that the point of contact with the lever is exactly in the center of the pallet.)

[Winston Smith]

Righty-ho! Thanks for that explanation, it does make sense.