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[Anne Croucher]

I found that the corners of the bellows on the Honer Ariette Cajun style in C were leaking air, and that the diamonds are made from a mesh material with a layer of rubber on the inside. The mesh was fine, but the rubber had perished and split.

I bought some liquid latex, and removed the ends of the box, stretched it out on a board, carefully clamping the ends and protecting the wood with corrugated cardboard, then I painted the latex inside and outside using a torch to see that the holes were filled up - did one side outside, other side inside, then turned the bellows top to bottom and repeated the process.
After impatiently waiting for it to dry I replaced the ends to see if it had made a difference.

The leaking is very much reduced already and the box is now in full voice.
I will probably check with the torch again to see if I can make further improvements, maybe put on another layer of the latex, let it dry thoroughly and dust with french chalk or talcum powder.

[Winston Smith]

I just love to hear of your improvisations, Anne, and wish you the best of luck with them; even though some others might be wincing at the very thought of them.

[george garside]

I have used 'glove' leather to patch and make airtight the inside of the bellows corners.  It is very thin and flexible and  I obtained a supply by acquiring ladies gloves that were no longer a pair!

george

[Anne Croucher]

this is a link to a photo of the problem - it is the outside of the bellows with my finger on the inside of the gusset to show the problem - it was by no means the worst.[/url[/img]

https://imgur.com/Ai7f6nU][/url

[Anne Croucher]

I have used 'glove' leather to patch and make airtight the inside of the bellows corners.  It is very thin and flexible and  I obtained a supply by acquiring ladies gloves that were no longer a pair!

george

There was nowhere to patch - there was nothing but the splits in the rubber layer, the mesh is intact and I spent some time in removing any loose rubber before painting in the new latex to close the gaps.

The box has four voices, it don't half make some noise now - I'll take it apart again at the weekend and check over the individual gussets for any missed bits, but the difference it has made to the play-ability is quite considerable. For the cost - under £10, and the time taken it is a very effective fix.To replace the gussets would have meant removing the old ones - which are under the bellow cloth and the metal corners - and they are firmly glued onto the card - it would not have been sensible to try to disassemble the bellows, which were physically intact, just not airtight due to the rubber layer perishing with age.

 

[Tiposx]

Hi Ann Croucher
That stuff sounds worth a try to improve my toy melodeon's corners - what brand did you use?
Tiposx

[byteofthecherry]

Well done..!!..although never used & new and sitting in it's case for 15yrs(approx) shows how things age..Glad to see it's more useful..

[Anne Croucher]

Hi Ann Croucher
That stuff sounds worth a try to improve my toy melodeon's corners - what brand did you use?
Tiposx

I got 250 ml of Polygen liquid latex rubber - very easy to use.

[Anne Croucher]

Well done..!!..although never used & new and sitting in it's case for 15yrs(approx) shows how things age..Glad to see it's more useful..

It is good now - hopefully I can make it even better - we have a meeting on Monday to discuss the music and figures for the NorthWestern morris we are to be teaching at a school in Wimborne, so it is all kicking off - we hope to have morris and longsword teams at the Wimborne folk festival this year, and already have dates for setting up the Maypole - I took the melodeon to the dance practice tonight and Gena thought it a lot better to play now - and it was admired both for its looks and its sound.

[Anne Croucher]

When I first tried the box some of the reeds were a bit lazy, but now, with a bit of playing they are beginning to sound - the extra air pressure must help, - it is good exercise, and I have not yet worked out how to use the air button and the basses as the physical size of that end means that I can't get my fingers one side and still reach the button with my thumb, but I just add a few twiddles to get the bellows where I want them, or for the most problematic tunes, stop playing, adjust, restart.

[rees]

but I just add a few twiddles to get the bellows where I want them, or for the most problematic tunes, stop playing, adjust, restart.

That's the spirit!

[Grumpy]

At the risk of upsetting the expert fettlers of the parish I have successfully used liquid PTFE to seal small leaks in concertina bellows. Brush on, let dry and dust with talc, perfect seal. For anyone interested liquid PTFE is available from your friendly Screwfix store under code 5321J, hope this helps someone.

[Anne Croucher]

At the risk of upsetting the expert fettlers of the parish I have successfully used liquid PTFE to seal small leaks in concertina bellows. Brush on, let dry and dust with talc, perfect seal. For anyone interested liquid PTFE is available from your friendly Screwfix store under code 5321J, hope this helps someone.

Poly tetra fluro ethane eh?

I must investigate.
I've used it as a spray for yarns which are difficult to knit in my alter ego as knitting machine tutor/fettler - but never thought of it as a permanent coating - it is perhaps a different form of the polymer, or in a different base.
 

[Theo]

I’ve just looked on Srewfix and one of their liquid Orde products has an “anaerobic” adhesive base. 

[Anne Croucher]

I’ve just looked on Srewfix and one of their liquid Orde products has an “anaerobic” adhesive base.

It would not have worked for this situation as the problem was holes, not gaps - and I'l have ended up with my finger glued to the inside of the bellows -with the latex I have got a flexible surface formed with the mesh as a support and guide.

[Grumpy]

The liquid PTFE would have been fine, it comes as a thin milk-like liquid.

[Steve_freereeder]

When I first tried the box some of the reeds were a bit lazy, but now, with a bit of playing they are beginning to sound - the extra air pressure must help,...

'Lazy' reeds (nice term ) may be due to air leakage, which you have now cured by your latex ministrations. However, bear in mind that slow or breathy response of the reeds may very well be due to other factors: e.g. curled or leaking valves and, especially, an incorrectly set gap at the reed tip.

1. If the reed tip gap is too wide, the reed will be slow and breathy to start and may well have a somewhat loud sound.
2. If the reed gap is too narrow, the reed may sound promptly but may choke off at higher bellows pressure. It may also have a rather weak sound with a pitch which varies with bellows pressure. If the gap is very narrow or non-existant the reed will not sound at all.

There is a sweet spot at which a reed responds the best. Also, different styles of playing might call for a slightly different reed setting; outdoor morris musicians may well need a loud robust sound which could be achieved with a slightly wide gap setting (but not too wide!).

This thread may be of use. There are other threads on the forum too.
 

[Theo]

Hohner C bass reeds can be particularly awkward and some of them never reall play as well as they should. 

[folkloristmark]

just a note. I have used latex in costume making and melodeon repairs, its not the best way but does work as a fix but would recomend that after finishing the last coats should be a thin Pva coat, or the Latex  will start to stick to itself with age and warmth and bellows may start to stick together. This also gives a good base for painting recomended.

[Anne Croucher]

I just went through all four voices individually - just listening, and all the RH side reeds seems to be fine now, and the bass reeds are responding very well, so I think that it was just the decade and a half of not being used which was the problem.
For a make of box which is considered not up to much it certainly makes a good impression on me. In full flow it is LOUD!!! and I still have to do a bit more work with the latex to get all the holes closed up and then to seal the surface.

It is certainly heavy and awkward, and the attachment of the strap keeps coming loose and will have to be strengthened before it can be used safely to support the box when playing, but having done a few hours work on it, and a few days playing on it, by Monday it should be able to make a good impression on the after school morris team.