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[Anne Croucher]

I bought a single row Diana accordion - a single row of buttons except where some buttons are missing, with two basses and an air button at the other end. Made in Saxony - with steel reeds, it says. 

On top there are three identical knobs - but I think that the two outer ones are the heavies, to stand there and make sure nothing bad happens to the middle one, which pulls a shutter out of the way - beneath each pallet there are two 'windows' one of which is closed off when the centre knob is down and opens as it is raised.
It only just arrived, and obviously is worth every penny I paid for it, and for a little thing it makes a lot of noise.

As I do not have much idea of what I have got, does anyone have any information about it?

I have found a photo of a similar one on the forum which has triangular fins on the backs of the pallets and no knobs that I can see - but this one has rods riveted to a central groove in the pallets - except in one case where there is nothing at all on the end of the rod, so that will take some improvisation and a glue gun to correct that. 

[Winston Smith]

Was that the ageuk one, Anne? I was watching that, but it went for more than I would pay. (I'm notorious for being a skinflint, so don't feel bad about it!) I should think that a matching pallet would be difficult to acquire, but not too difficult to make a functioning replacement, even if it looked different.
Good luck with it, I've had shedloads of fun with my "firewood" models. One-rows are just so  much fun!

[Anne Croucher]

Yes it was the Age UK one - I put £15 nax on it and it came in at less - I was hoping that the pallet was perhaps still there just wrapped around - but no - bits of cardboard, but there is about half of the flat part which attached to the pallet left on the end of the rod.

I hope that I can create a piece of wood the right size with a socket for the flat part which can be filled with glue, maybe add in extra metal on top.
I have been intending to look inside my playable D/G - but I play it every day so there isn't a window of opportunity to access -and although some of the things really annoy me, they are not essential changes in order for it to be playable.

[Pete Dunk]

If you can take a picture and do a bit of measuring, some kind soul might just make a new pallet for you. 

[Anne Croucher]

now there's a thought - but having taken the right hand end apart - it looks to be a fairly simple job - compared with fixing my usual patients, which are knitting machines.

I think that my other half comes from a long line of cathedral builders, as he was suggesting attaching prosthetic feet with Araldite to hold the replacement where I was visualizing a small dab of glue to do the job.

The keyboard is really crude - the buttons press down little diving boards with a spring underneath, located in a small groove in the outer case. The pivot of each of the diving boards is a metal rod which runs the length of it, located in a saw cut and held by three small pieces of wood glued into the saw cut.

On the end of the diving board is a piece of wooden rod glued in place, protruding through a hole in the outer case, and which has a flattish white disc screwed onto the top of it, for the pressing down of it. Two buttons are missing. Should be an easy fix though.

The pivot action of the diving boards is adequate, but over time the rod has rusted, so that when pressing a button the rod sticks and twists so moving the mechanisms on either side of the one wanted. I have used tweezers to remove the dead spiders etc. and then some PTFE spray to try to loosen the grip of the wood on the metal.  The springs are obviously of better metal and are not rusty. I think that the pallets are covered in suede - and they need aligning to better cover the air holes - perhaps I ought to get some good stuff and redo all of them as several of the strips are not fully glued on.

The bellow frames are held on by four long screws, and the felt used to edge them has suffered from moths.
The centre knob is the only active one, but there is one which screws into a fixed block of wood, and one which goes into a block of wood which slides out of the way so that the screws which hold the keyboard in place can be reached.
The box is very lightweight and it does seem to be a promising fixer upper.

[Anne Croucher]

Well - the keyboard has to come apart and have a new rod put through it as it is broken - rods in the post, so we will continue to footle around to see what can be done for the poor old thing.
Both the metal holding the bellows together pieces are broken off leaving a disc - held on with a nail!! 

Perhaps putting a tube over the nail and using a vice to push it out will get them off - there is half an inch of nail protruding on the inside.

I think it is really sad to use nails with a cross cut so they look like screws - I mean - what? 

I found some strips of old hardwood which are exactly the right width for the pallets - and as some of the wood inside the metal covered pallets is cracked I might try replacing all of them, and some leather for the straps, which will not be nailed on    I put in one seal around the bellows, must do the other side, and am thinking of putting a reinforcement on each of the screw holes on the long sides of the bellows frames as the holes are not central and the wood is cracked. I've got new screws on the way - it would be best to fill the holes and remake them them straight, really.

Probably it would be best to buy some good reeds and remake the whole thing from scratch as it would be easier and less work, but now I will put it all aside and go and make some Clangers (who remembers them, eh?) as I need to finance this new hobby

[Anne Croucher]

The RH side is all in bits and some serious reconstruction is under way - but if the DH doesn't stop mentioning Araldite there might be WORDS there is also the suggestion of using MDF for replacement parts.

Where is the tearing out of hair 'smiley'?

I wanted to remove the LH end - but it seems that it was not made to come apart - but the ratty bit of board which covers it has a crack, and I wanted to improve the setting of the air hole, as it wobbles about.

I think it really would be easier to start from scratch with a set of reeds and some wood.....

[Theo]

The value of this instrument is not as a musical instrument, but is in what you will learn about it’s construction.

[911377brian]

Morning Anne, don’t be put off by the seemingly hopeless task in front of you. Several times and against my own better judgement I have bought and rebuilt Saxony one rows and learnt to do just about every job ( with the exception of tuning, a job best left to the professionals) imaginable. I was always pleased with the way they looked when completed. Sadly, without exception they played like dogs. But now I can no longer play I realise that I got at least as much satisfaction from fiddling around with the entrails as I did with playing....

[Malcolm Clapp]

I wanted to remove the LH end - but it seems that it was not made to come apart - but the ratty bit of board which covers it has a crack, and I wanted to improve the setting of the air hole, as it wobbles about.

If you are referring to the "growl box", it should be removable (provided it hasn't been glued on with araldite). The retaining screws (not nails, I hope!) are usually cunningly hidden beneath the reeds (or possibly beneath the wooden reed-mounting frames, which are a bit more difficult to access).

The wobbly air button (and also the two playing buttons) are usually attached to leather-hinged pallets mounted in three triangular chambers within the growl box and the usual cause of the wobble is that the leather has become decayed/stretched/disattached. Fiddly, but not a difficult repair if you can find leather of the right consistency (flexible, but not floppy).

Hope this helps....

[Andy Next Tune]

I seem to remember on the one row building workshop that rubber/neoprene was used for the pallet hinges in the growl box rather than leather.

[Theo]

I seem to remember on the one row building workshop that rubber/neoprene was used for the pallet hinges in the growl box rather than leather.

I don’t think so Andy.  You might be thinking of bellows gaskets which are neoprene foam. 

[Anne Croucher]

I did get it just to see what could be done with something really ratty - I got a fairly cheap  D/G wet tuned East German box - but I like playing it so much that I don't want to mess about with it.
My husband has suggested putting washers each side of the button supports, offered to make/find springs to go beneath them, and is experimenting with using the many discarded knitting machine needles I have - taken out of machines when I serviced them. The needles are high quality metal, just become distorted or damaged at the hook end so no use for knitting, but might be useful for melodion work. Over the years they have been used for lots of different jobs - repairing old door handles - the ones with latches - was one very successful option. 

The new pivot rods - 1mm welding rods have arrived, so the work can advance.
   

[Anne Croucher]

Morning Anne, don’t be put off by the seemingly hopeless task in front of you. Several times and against my own better judgement I have bought and rebuilt Saxony one rows and learnt to do just about every job ( with the exception of tuning, a job best left to the professionals) imaginable. I was always pleased with the way they looked when completed. Sadly, without exception they played like dogs. But now I can no longer play I realise that I got at least as much satisfaction from fiddling around with the entrails as I did with playing....

What was it about the way that they played which was not to your liking?

[911377brian]

Morning Anne, well, the mechanism always seemed clunky, bellows stiff and leaky despite hours of retaping and repair and the brass reeds didn’t stay in tune despite the stirling efforts of Lester et al . Worth bearing in mind that most of them were made to sell cheap and be replaced rather than be repaired. That’s not to say that nothing good came out of Saxony, I’m sure that some may have been more durable, and the brass reeds on better quality boxes have a lovely soft tone. YMMV

[Anne Croucher]

Ah - luckily the bellows on this one seemed quite easy to operate and also fairly airtight - I have put on new tape to replace the moth eaten lengths of wool.
It is lightweight - I thought that there might be nothing inside it when I lifted it out of the packaging - the reeds are 'steel' - it says, I must get a magnet and check.

One option  - if there is no need to take off the RH side, would be to put a ring, or maybe horseshoe shape of something around the hole the air hole button moves in - it is one of the mushroom sort, so the stem is restricted to up and down only.
I can see half a screw under the woodwork holding the bass reeds, but also several little nailheads. Other nails are proving resistant to removal, possibly it is the type of wood. Yes, I can see that there was little intended to be customer serviced in the original design, but you should see the Passap Electra 3000 motors for a prime example of that - actually not serviced by anyone at all is more like it with those, but I cracked that particular nut, so it is only a matter of time before I work it out. At the moment it is the racing keyboard option for the other end which is being worked on. 

[Winston Smith]

"you should see the Passap Electra 3000 motors for a prime example of that - actually not serviced by anyone at all is more like it with those, but I cracked that particular nut"

Wow! Anne, you sound like my kind of woman!!!!

[Anne Croucher]

"you should see the Passap Electra 3000 motors for a prime example of that - actually not serviced by anyone at all is more like it with those, but I cracked that particular nut"

Wow! Anne, you sound like my kind of woman!!!!

I come from a long line of Scottish engineers.

When I was a student I stripped down and rebuilt a BSA 650cc A10 - it had a double adult Watsonian sidecar to hold it up - me not being tall enough to manage a bike that size.

[911377brian]

Anne, regarding the nails; a tip I picked up from my early days on Melnet was to heat the head with a soldering iron for a bit. It almost always worked making them easier to remove without destroying the surrounding woodwork....

[Anne Croucher]

Anne, regarding the nails; a tip I picked up from my early days on Melnet was to heat the head with a soldering iron for a bit. It almost always worked making them easier to remove without destroying the surrounding woodwork....

Thank you for the tip - I now have a (ahem) number of cheap and tatty melodeons all of which require lots of work.

I am sure that all I need are new bellows new reeds and new woodwork and the ability not to think that I can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

I do like three voiced ones  - I really will have to learn to mend or make them, though - OK - first I'll have to learn how to get them apart - the design is terrible, but interesting.