Melodeon.net Forums

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Welcome to the new melodeon.net forum

Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Black Pearl Air Button Repair  (Read 1633 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Graham Spencer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3538
  • MAD as a wet Hohner........
Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« on: September 27, 2019, 01:55:25 PM »

Don't know of anyone's faced this job:  I have a friend's Black Pearl III on which the air button has become detached.  The air valve itself is 100% working; on these boxes the operating button is hinged on to the endplate and rests on the valve's operating arm. The metal strip forming the hinge has sheared; in itself a simple replacement job, but a) it's riveted to the endplate; b) I can't drill the rivet out because the instrument's foot in that corner overlaps the rivet head and it, too, is riveted on, with a substantial bifurcated rivet; and c) the endplate is made of plastic and won't stand up to a lot of friction heat or stress from metal tools.  Any ideas?

Graham
Logged
Among others, Saltarelle Pastourelle II D/G; Hohner 4-stop 1-rows in C & G; assorted Hohners; 3-voice German (?) G/C of uncertain parentage; lovely little Hlavacek 1-row Heligonka; B♭/E♭ Koch. Newly acquired G/C Hohner Viktoria. Also Fender Jazz bass, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Epiphone Sheraton, Charvel-Jackson 00-style acoustic guitar, Danelectro 12-string and other stuff..........

Squeezing in the Cyprus sunshine

Theo

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13729
  • Hohner Club Too
    • The Box Place
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2019, 02:23:51 PM »

I’ve done this a few times.  It’s more or less essential to straighten the bifurcated rivet then you can get to the bits you need.  Last one I did had a round headed rivet.  I removed it by filing off the head, then drifting out the rest.  Flexible plastic sheet can be longer lasting than the original tin hinge.  I have a ready supply of nickel silver offcuts that I use.
Logged
Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

Proprietor of The Box Place for melodeon and concertina sales and service.
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook for stock updates.

Graham Spencer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3538
  • MAD as a wet Hohner........
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2019, 03:02:18 PM »

Thanks Theo; those were the lines along which I was thinking. It's just a case of taking my courage in both hands to get the bifurcated rivet out! I wouldn't worry so much if it were my box, but......   

 Thanks too for the tip about nickel-silver, of which I have a reasonable supply in assorted thicknesses. The original looks like an aluminium alloy and seems a bit soft for the job.

Graham
Logged
Among others, Saltarelle Pastourelle II D/G; Hohner 4-stop 1-rows in C & G; assorted Hohners; 3-voice German (?) G/C of uncertain parentage; lovely little Hlavacek 1-row Heligonka; B♭/E♭ Koch. Newly acquired G/C Hohner Viktoria. Also Fender Jazz bass, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Epiphone Sheraton, Charvel-Jackson 00-style acoustic guitar, Danelectro 12-string and other stuff..........

Squeezing in the Cyprus sunshine

Theo

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13729
  • Hohner Club Too
    • The Box Place
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2019, 03:21:48 PM »

Someone I know did a festival repair with a pice if plastic milk bottle for the hinge,  kept working for years!
Logged
Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

Proprietor of The Box Place for melodeon and concertina sales and service.
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook for stock updates.

Lester

  • MADman
  • Mods and volunteers
  • Hero Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9109
  • Hohners'R'me
    • Lester's Melodeon Emporium and Tune-a-Rama
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2019, 04:58:52 PM »


Someone I know did a festival repair with a pice if plastic milk bottle for the hinge,  kept working for years!

That was Rees, I use cut offs from plastic hotel key entry thingys

rees

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4734
  • Windjammer
    • Wesson Accordions
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2019, 05:00:18 PM »

Yes, I've used milk bottle plastic on a famous person's Dino Baffetti. Lasts forever.
Logged
Rees Wesson (accordion builder and mechanic)
Gungrog, Welshpool, Wales, UK
www.melodeons.com

Graham Spencer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3538
  • MAD as a wet Hohner........
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2019, 05:59:19 PM »

Interesting - if it were my box I might be inclined to experiment. As it's someone else's,  I don't know.  Plastic does  seem worth exploring.
Logged
Among others, Saltarelle Pastourelle II D/G; Hohner 4-stop 1-rows in C & G; assorted Hohners; 3-voice German (?) G/C of uncertain parentage; lovely little Hlavacek 1-row Heligonka; B♭/E♭ Koch. Newly acquired G/C Hohner Viktoria. Also Fender Jazz bass, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Epiphone Sheraton, Charvel-Jackson 00-style acoustic guitar, Danelectro 12-string and other stuff..........

Squeezing in the Cyprus sunshine

Lester

  • MADman
  • Mods and volunteers
  • Hero Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9109
  • Hohners'R'me
    • Lester's Melodeon Emporium and Tune-a-Rama
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #7 on: September 27, 2019, 06:01:58 PM »

Interesting - if it were my box I might be inclined to experiment. As it's someone else's,  I don't know.  Plastic does  seem worth exploring.


I've used the plastic cards on 10+ boxes and have never had a comeback from them. Added advantage is that I extent the plastic card back until it covers where the air button rod runs on the button thus providing a more slippery mating face.

Andrew Wigglesworth

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1101
  • 07
    • My website
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #8 on: September 27, 2019, 10:36:50 PM »

On my BP II the metal "spring" broke pretty early on but the button remained hooked into place with the fastener holding the corner foot on. This went on being fine for years until I needed to replace the whole plastic end-plate which was more and more seriously split.

On the replacement I used a piece of leather rather than metal, as there is plenty of spring in the mechanism, and that has lasted for ... well, whenever I was advised on this board to use a piece of leather. Long enough ago to be forgotten  ;D

fc diato

  • Regular debater
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 138
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #9 on: September 27, 2019, 10:53:56 PM »

Brilliant! I absolutely love this forum. 
I am facing the same issue, and was about to head off tomorrow morning to get a machine shop to drill a hole in a feeler gauge.
Plastic, yes! Why do complicated when you can do simple?
Thanks for saving me time and traffic.
Logged
fc diato

Graham Spencer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3538
  • MAD as a wet Hohner........
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #10 on: October 18, 2019, 01:13:07 PM »

Thanks for all the advice on this job; I finally got round to doing it, and after a fair amount of time & effort to get the rivets out it all went very smoothly. In the end  I used leather for the hinge; the owner is delighted and I learned something, so I reckon that's a win all round.

Graham
Logged
Among others, Saltarelle Pastourelle II D/G; Hohner 4-stop 1-rows in C & G; assorted Hohners; 3-voice German (?) G/C of uncertain parentage; lovely little Hlavacek 1-row Heligonka; B♭/E♭ Koch. Newly acquired G/C Hohner Viktoria. Also Fender Jazz bass, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Epiphone Sheraton, Charvel-Jackson 00-style acoustic guitar, Danelectro 12-string and other stuff..........

Squeezing in the Cyprus sunshine

JD

  • Regular debater
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 215
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #11 on: October 18, 2019, 03:20:31 PM »

...I needed to replace the whole plastic end-plate which was more and more seriously split.


This is something I really ought to do as the end plate of my BPIII split years ago. I glued a domestic electrical switch blanking plate inside the end, put in some cutouts to allow the bass lever rods to move freely and carried on playing. I can hear the professionals on the site tutting from here!

Did you replace the end plate with another plastic one or make a new one from wood?
Logged

Theo

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13729
  • Hohner Club Too
    • The Box Place
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #12 on: October 18, 2019, 03:43:17 PM »

Ingenuity is a great thing! 
Logged
Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

Proprietor of The Box Place for melodeon and concertina sales and service.
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook for stock updates.

Graham Spencer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3538
  • MAD as a wet Hohner........
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #13 on: October 18, 2019, 04:25:48 PM »

Did you replace the end plate with another plastic one or make a new one from wood?

Obviously I have no idea what Andrew's reply will be, but faced with the same situation my inclination would certainly be to go with wood. That plastic endplate made the repair twice as difficult as it needed to be - I had to be SO careful not to damage the vulnerable plastic.
Logged
Among others, Saltarelle Pastourelle II D/G; Hohner 4-stop 1-rows in C & G; assorted Hohners; 3-voice German (?) G/C of uncertain parentage; lovely little Hlavacek 1-row Heligonka; B♭/E♭ Koch. Newly acquired G/C Hohner Viktoria. Also Fender Jazz bass, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Epiphone Sheraton, Charvel-Jackson 00-style acoustic guitar, Danelectro 12-string and other stuff..........

Squeezing in the Cyprus sunshine

Andrew Wigglesworth

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1101
  • 07
    • My website
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #14 on: October 26, 2019, 11:20:19 PM »

I used a piece of beech plywood. This was quite a few years ago now, and it was pretty simple to do. It's not a thing of refined beauty, this is a "working box" to put it mildly, but it serves the purpose and has never given any trouble unlike the original plastic end-plate which had got pretty patched up and saggy by the end.

Edited to add:  I also reused the feet by removing the split pin attachments and fitting them with washers and bolts to the corners of the plywood.
« Last Edit: October 26, 2019, 11:28:49 PM by Andrew Wigglesworth »
Logged

Wicked Lady

  • Member
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 43
  • Dino Baffetti Art 86, Castagnari Tommy, BP2
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #15 on: October 27, 2019, 09:24:06 AM »

I can account for at least 2 of Lester's repairs plus my husband has done another 2 but always on Dino Baffettis. Is this a design fault or do other makes of boxes also have this problem?
Logged

Graham Spencer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3538
  • MAD as a wet Hohner........
Re: Black Pearl Air Button Repair
« Reply #16 on: October 27, 2019, 09:48:08 AM »

I can account for at least 2 of Lester's repairs plus my husband has done another 2 but always on Dino Baffettis. Is this a design fault or do other makes of boxes also have this problem?

I've never met it on any other brand. FWIW, I secured the replacement hinge with a 3.5mm machine-screw and nut with a locknut to hold it firm rather than a rivet, so that if it happens again (which it won't of course, as I used a nice bit of leather) the owner can easily do a DIY replacement.
Logged
Among others, Saltarelle Pastourelle II D/G; Hohner 4-stop 1-rows in C & G; assorted Hohners; 3-voice German (?) G/C of uncertain parentage; lovely little Hlavacek 1-row Heligonka; B♭/E♭ Koch. Newly acquired G/C Hohner Viktoria. Also Fender Jazz bass, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Epiphone Sheraton, Charvel-Jackson 00-style acoustic guitar, Danelectro 12-string and other stuff..........

Squeezing in the Cyprus sunshine
Pages: [1]   Go Up
 


Melodeon.net - (c) Theo Gibb; Clive Williams 2010. The access and use of this website and forum featuring these terms and conditions constitutes your acceptance of these terms and conditions.
SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal