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[Pascal Gillies]

Hello all fellow melodeoners!
This is my first post but I have been what's been on here for a wee while now.
I'm still quite new to this and have only been playing 8 - 9 months and loving it.

I have recently acquired another pokerwork to learn how to fix and in the process, I purchased some reedblocks to change the tuning from the honer shop website.
Only shock horror they don't fit
Looks like it is something very simple that they do not have felt on the bottom of them but the original ones do.
Does anyone have experience with this?
Is there somewhere that sells the felt/lining with precut holes in it?
If not what material would be best suited and what is the best method for cutting holes and glueing the lining?

I look forward to seeing what people have to say :)
Pascal

[Lester]

My personal preference would be to fit Olovisc gasket (a thin type of cork gasket) to the casework rather than the reed blocks. Charlie Marshall sells self adhesive Olovisc, just stick it to the casework over the air holes then cut around the holes with a scalpel.

[Theo]

You can equally well stick the gasket to the base of the reed block.  Your old blocks will be like this.  It's a little easier to get at and easier to cut out the holes because the pallets will not be in the way while you are cutting.   This way also means that you can easily put the old blocks back in if you want to do that, for example to give you a choice of tuning.

Hohner have used both methods and both work equally well as far as I can tell.

[Pearse Rossa]

You can equally well stick the gasket to the base of the reed block.  Your old blocks will be like this.  It's a little easier to get at and easier to cut out the holes because the pallets will not be in the way while you are cutting.

When I did this recently, I used a thick length of cardboard to raise the pallets. This afforded the space I needed to operate the scalpel, and the cardboard protected the felt on the pallets.
For some reason, I had to do it this way, but I have also attached olovisc gasket directly to reed blocks and that
is probably an easier task.
If you decide to stick it to the casework, having a third hand available to you in order to depress the buttons to
allow the cardboard to be inserted, will be useful.

[Winston Smith]

Welcome Pascal. I'm left wondering why you're changing the blocks "to change the tuning"? Are the original no use, and, what are you going to do with them if you're finished with them? (Hint hint.)

[Pearse Rossa]

... what is the best method for cutting holes?

I used a short length of hollow tube, sharpened around the rim.
It was a piece of copper pipe, approximately 10mm in diameter.
Don't attempt to cut right through as you risk stretching the material out of shape.
Use it to give a clear outline of where the hole is and use a scalpel or a craft knife to get a clean cut.

[Pascal Gillies]

Thank you so much for all your responses this is all very helpfull!
Thank you Theo & Lester, the Olovisc gasket is on my shopping list :)
I just received some bellow tape from CGM just yesterday.
I will inspect my other box and see which method they used in that case so I can try streamline.
@ Edward I am changing the blocks as I had a couple of notes that didn't sound right as if more than one were playing but with a sad deflated sound. I thought of replacing the reeds them self but that looked like a little to much work for a first timer :/
When I had a closer look most of them seemed rusted also. The price difference between buying a full set of reeds or buying a block from honer wasn't too great figured would save me some time.
The previous blocks were in cf but new ones are dg.
Honer was out of stock of cf, I suppose that's not the most interesting response is it
I have no idea what I will do with the original ones at this point... I thought it would be cool to build my own box from scratch one day but I got the feels that it's way ahead of me
Did you have a need for the blocks Edward?

[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

Pascal, Edward is our very own Mr Micawber, a snapper up of unconsidered trifles. His motto is "The shy child gets nowt. (nothing)" I admire his optimism though.
Hope your installation of the new blocks goes OK. I recently had the same thing happen to me, and my solution was to put the gasket on the reed blocks, not on the fondo. As almost all the old Hohners I have worked on, apart from my old Erika, have this system, it makes transferring blocks around, much easier.

Sir John

[Winston Smith]

Well thank you Sir John!
Although I've often quoted the said Micawber, I hadn't really seen myself as his protege. But, on reflection, you could well be correct.

[invadm]

Did you have a need for the blocks?

your old Hohner reeds are much more valuable than you might think, especially if you have them on the block as a set  I will start the firs bid by £50 for all 4 block 

[Winston Smith]

Of course, invadm is perfectly correct. Reeds on blocks are worth whatever someone is willing and able to pay for them, I'm sure that the sky's the limit with your blocks.
But the value of everything is purely subjective, hence we have people paying the best part of a million pounds for a house in London which could be bought elsewhere for £75,000, and second hand melodeons going for £13,000!
Moneyed folk set prices which they know others would not/could not pay in every sphere.

[Graham Spencer]

Pascal, Edward is our very own Mr Micawber, a snapper up of unconsidered trifles.

(Pedant alert!)

I think you'll find that was Autolycus in "The Winter's Tale";  Mr Micawber was always sure something would turn up.... 

Graham

[Winston Smith]

As, indeed, I always am! As they say (or something like it) "Everything comes to he who waits", eventually!

[John MacKenzie (Cugiok)]

Thank you Graham. So Edward, you now have a choice, either Mr Micawber, waiting for something reasonably priced to turn up. or the old Snapper, Autolycus himself. An embarrassment of riches as **** ****** said.

Sir John