Gluing and Rejuvenating Leather Valves

[Johnniez]

Hi all.

Well I have a couple of leather valves laying in the bottom of my box.. And trying to decide what to use to glue them back..

They are stuck on with shellac.. I have read here and there and quite a topic it is.. But seems that shellac is much better to clean/scrape off of the reed block and also the leather.. I also read that you can take the old leather valve if not flat and roll it up the other way then take a dull knife and ruff up the nap and it will become flat again and then install..

I have a product called Indian Head Gasket Shellac made by Permatex.. Idea came from here http://www.accordionrevival.com/ACCORDION_REPAIR1 .

I have taken some of it and place on a piece of leather and metal and seems to glue ok..

Any thought on this? Not knowing how old the revival site is is this way of doing it still the norm..

Thanks
Johnnie

 

[Soulsaver]

http://www.accordionrevival.com/ACCORDION_REPAIR1.php ...gets you there.

 

[JIM D.]

Hi John: If there is some residue of the old glue is still on the reed plate, A bit of Elmer"s white glue will work just fine for Leather replacement.
P.S Mailed your gasket 3 days ago.

 

[Johnniez]

Good stuff Jim thanks

Well I have a bottle of Indian Head gasket shellac.. Used it for my paintings believe it or not.. tried it it works. No prob getting the old shellac off. I made a taper piece of oak to a fine wedge Made two actually one 1/4 inch wide other 1/8th wide. and it scrapes it off tickety-boo !!

Not the leathers on the Atlantic. its a couple in the Excelsior need to fix.

Johnnie

 

[albertrich01]

I had never used such kind of work. But it is really nice work and as you both had discussed this, I also got many wonderful information. You had done wonderful job!

 

[Johnniez]

http://www.accordionrevival.com/ACCORDION_REPAIR1.php ...gets you there.

Hey,, Re-read my post.. then delete this.. You making me look bad..

The first one is mine.. 2nd one is yours.. The last will be ... ... .. .

 

[george garside]

new valves, leather or plastic are quite cheap so better to renew than flatten curly ones.

however and for what its worth I have found the best way to restore old leather valves is to soak them in water for a day and then iron them flat with a domestic iron. Its worked for me but no guarantees!

george

 

[Soulsaver]

Hi all.

I have a product called Indian Head Gasket Shellac made by Permatex.. Idea came from here http://www.accordionrevival.com/ACCORDION_REPAIR1 .

Johnnie

http://www.accordionrevival.com/ACCORDION_REPAIR1.php ...gets you there.

[/quote]

Hey,, Re-read my post.. then delete this.. You making me look bad..

The first one is mine.. 2nd one is yours.. The last will be ... ... .. .

Polite?



Try your link - it doesnt work, 404 page error.
Which is why mine says, ..gets you there.

 

[debra]

I always use glue made for shoe repair, not the stuff they sell in tubes but the bulk type used by real shoemakers.

 

[psc945]

Leather is a natural substance , obviously. The leather does naturally, even when tanned, dry out, the skin surface of the leather slightly more than the more fibrous base, this causes it to curl. You can replace some of the moisture,water tends to make it pliable and it will dry straight, heating can dry it too quickly and it can even shrink a little and with too much heat it will harden. Destroying its flexibility.
To replace the natural oils, it needs something like neatsfoot oil but too much will make it again oily and sticky.
All these things can rejuvanate the leather but it is safer and better to replace with new leather, it will have all the natural oils and moisture and lay flat as required for the reed to functon at its best. I would say it is possible to rejuvinate these leathers, it comes down to the choice of the owner. If it works and you are happy go for it.

 

[KLR]

George, thats a new one to me for rejuvenating valves, thanks for sharing. This page has a depiction of a gizmo you can make for straightening out valves: Reed Valves It actually sorta works, in my experience, but you have the valve on the other side to think about, too. If youre faced with a lot of curlers it would probably be best to replace em all, which means taking the box apart, removing all the reeds, cleaning them, revalving, rewaxing...its quite a time sink, either that or a titch expensive.

I was advised by the melodeon.net people to use stuff thats called things like Bostik in Europe. A friend tells me that in the US Duco cement is the same stuff. I like it, sets fast and is clean, and easy to remove if need be, too. Dont use Barge cement, that stuff is a holy horror to clean up.