Isn't she lovely?

[PhiliGol]

Finally it's all about the inner values - isn't it?
But at the age of almost 60 we're getting little grey - so did she.
Therefore I spent some "skincare" - by coating a new grill cloth.


Maybe you won't notice the rejuvenation if you don't know her before.
A side-by-side of the cloth will expose it right away:



As an "inner value"-benefit I spent new bellow-gaskets.

 

[losthobos]

Gotta love a bit of grill pimping ....

 

[Tom]

Finally it's all about the inner values - isn't it?
But at the age of almost 60 we're getting little grey - so did she.
Therefore I spent some "skincare" - by coating a new grill cloth.


Maybe you won't notice the rejuvenation if you don't know her before.
A side-by-side of the cloth will expose it right away:



As an "inner value"-benefit I spent new bellow-gaskets.

Nice upgrade Piotr!

 

[Waldo]

Here's my Pimpin' on the "Killer Accordion" (formerly Black carbon fiber).

 

[Waldo]

Losthobos: Is that a section of broadcloth or individual pieces cut to fit the grille openings? I dig it!

 

[losthobos]

Losthobos: Is that a section of broadcloth or individual pieces cut to fit the grille openings? I dig it!

I bought a sheet of Japanese cloth from a art shop....not expensive....used spray adhesive inside grill and applied cloth....easy peasy....till I turned over and saw how much glue had drip dried onto the outside of the grill ....hardest part of job was removing that with a scalpel.... lesson learnt .. would paint adhesive on next time...
How did you do yours....looks real glamorous..

 

[JerryPH]

Finally it's all about the inner values - isn't it?
But at the age of almost 60 we're getting little grey - so did she.
Therefore I spent some "skincare" - by coating a new grill cloth.

Maybe you won't notice the rejuvenation if you don't know her before.
A side-by-side of the cloth will expose it right away:

As an "inner value"-benefit I spent new bellow-gaskets.

It sure looks pretty, but if there were any leaks that were arrested with the bellows gasket, it certainly plays better too, I bet!
Nice to see that the grill material is still available too!

 

[PhiliGol]

It sure looks pretty, but if there were any leaks that were arrested with the bellows gasket, it certainly plays better too, I bet!
Nice to see that the grill material is still available too!

Hi Jerry
The bellows gasket update was somewhat pro-active - if at all there's a very minor improvement.
The old leather gasket presumably still would have done a good job (I presume it still was the factory mounted one ).
I can feel it has no longer the compression it used to have - it seems more related to treble valves / pallet-gaskets.

Yes the original grill-cloth is still available @
https://www.stringsandboxes.de/epag...ewObjectPath=/Shops/es117831/Products/HO26002
By coincidence it's a 10mile drive from my home

It's big enough to also cover a 459 grill - just in case...

 

[debra]

...
The bellows gasket update was somewhat pro-active - if at all there's a very minor improvement.
The old leather gasket presumably still would have done a good job (I presume it still was the factory mounted one ).
I can feel it has no longer the compression it used to have - it seems more related to treble valves / pallet-gaskets.
...

The old leather gaskets on the Hohner Gola or Morino must have been ready for replacement.
My Morino (Artiste X S) came with leather bellows gaskets and they were definitely not sealing as well as the newer gasket tape I put on (same as on all modern accordions). Leather never had the elasticity (actually, the ability to be compressed and then come back up) that new gasket tape has.

 

[PhiliGol]

The old leather gaskets on the Hohner Gola or Morino must have been ready for replacement.
My Morino (Artiste X S) came with leather bellows gaskets and they were definitely not sealing as well as the newer gasket tape I put on (same as on all modern accordions). Leather never had the elasticity (actually, the ability to be compressed and then come back up) that new gasket tape has.

Thank you for your confirmation Paul.
Yes I also had the impression that this is not only about cosmetics but will serve a purpose to some extend.

 

[JerryPH]

I replaced my bellows gasket when I had it looked over by my expert, also put on 4" leather straps. My grill material is thankfully original and in perfect condition, so I am good for now, but its nice to know if anything happens, where to go for an original looking replacement.

Thanks guys!

 

[Waldo]

Losthobos;
The process is gilding, as in gold leaf. I used "variegated composite gold", which surprisingly has no gold in it at all. "Composite gold" is copper, zinc and/or silver in various concentrations/blends. It is then hammered between special sheets of paper until thin....really thin, as in one mil (1/10000 inch). Then the surface to be gilded is painted with "sizing" (glue) and a sheet of leaf carefully placed over the area and pressed into place with a fine hair, soft brush. Several coats of sizing is then applied over the leaf to protect against corrosion. Really a pretty simple process.

I used the "variegated" version in order to get the color variations visible. Regular gold leaf would be uniform in color and as such I might as well have just painted the grille with "gold" (read: Brass) paint and saved a bunch of practice time.

The grille on my box has a fine black metal screen behind the grille that is held in place by hot melt glue. Because of the hot melt, I couldn't remove the screen. When leafing something, excess perimeter leaf will be removed with the aforementioned brush, generating numerous small flakes of leaf that scatter around. I was concerned about said flakes getting stuck on the black screen and looking funky so I had to mask off the grille openings to protect the screen. I troubled myself over how to go about masking off such intricate openings white still allowing access to the areas I wanted to gild. I ended up using a xerox machine to photocopy the grille, rolling the bend of the grille with the scanning light, to produce a flat paper copy of the grille. I then carefully cut out the areas I wanted to use as a mask and then worked them into place between the grille and the backing screen. I then did the gilding, brushed off the excess leaf, pulled out the masking paper, and Bob's your uncle (I often wonder where that phrase came from)! Easy Peasy it wasn't, but I'm delighted with the results.

There are a number of YouTubes on making gold leaf that are very interesting. Did you know gold can be beaten down to a sheet that is only one molecule thick? That's thin enough to see through! The face plates on astronaut's helmets are covered with just such a sheet to protect against radiation found in space. Most non-ferrous metals can be hammered into "leaf".

Press on....
Waldo