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Sourcing replacement valve leathers

  • Thread starter Thread starter mpscholle
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mpscholle

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I have been scouring the internet and this forum for replacement leathers. And I've talked to a couple people but I wanted to get everybody's thoughts on here.

The guy I've been talking to said that he gets his Leathers from Tandy Leather and cuts them himself. Other people order from Italy or Germany...

I was just wondering what people do on here? Do you make them, do you order them, where's the cheapest suppliers for good quality Reed valves.

Also what do you guys think about those little steel strips...
 
I'd be wary about using differently purposed leather since the kind of usage one gets out of leather valves over multiple decades warrants particular material and treatment and the amount of work involved for revalving and tuning (pitch is not entirely independent from valves) is likely more than what you can hope to save. Of course unless you have valid reason to believe that your own preparations are superior to what's on the market.
 
I also have "a guy" and he orders from Italy. I think they come pre-cut. Where he orders also supplies wax, felt, strips, plastic valves etc.
 
That's a concise little post from Jim but the FRM catalogue looks pretty amazing for you statesiders!
 
TomBR post_id=54917 time=1517390068 user_id=323 said:
Thats a concise little post from Jim but the FRM catalogue looks pretty amazing for you statesiders!
Click to expand...

Agreed! Not as complete as Carini but certainly a lot easier for people on that side of the Atlantic.
 
jozz post_id=54914 time=1517388568 user_id=2600 said:
I also have a guy and he orders from Italy. I think they come pre-cut. Where he orders also supplies wax, felt, strips, plastic valves etc.
Click to expand...

Care to share the guy? Looks like I have a big job ahead of me.
 
debra post_id=54915 time=1517389024 user_id=605 said:
I am expecting delivery today from Carini in Castelfidardo. See http://www.carinidena.it/
They sell everything you can imagine for accordion maintenance and repair.
Click to expand...

What did you think of the price? I talked to the people at FMR. They said my minimum order quantity was $75US. Not sure if that is good or not. Also.. talked to a guy Italy he said he can ship me leathers, but said that US customs wont allow leather from Italy and would not be responsible if customs holds package.
 
mpscholle post_id=54957 time=1517448454 user_id=2702 said:
debra post_id=54915 time=1517389024 user_id=605 said:
I am expecting delivery today from Carini in Castelfidardo. See http://www.carinidena.it/
They sell everything you can imagine for accordion maintenance and repair.
Click to expand...

What did you think of the price? I talked to the people at FMR. They said my minimum order quantity was $75US. Not sure if that is good or not. Also.. talked to a guy Italy he said he can ship me leathers, but said that US customs wont allow leather from Italy and would not be responsible if customs holds package.
Click to expand...

Well... small valves are cheap but come by the 1.000, and larger valves are more expensive and come in 100 and the largest only in 20. By the time you have valves for at least one complete accordion, ordering in the quantities valves come in, you will easily exceed $75, quite a bit more even in my case as it is for a bayan which has lots of large reeds.
If you think valves are expensive, look at the prices for reeds...
An accordion is not just expensive because it takes a lot of labor to build it, the parts do add up to a significant sum because there are just so many of them.
 
That's rough... The parts are so expensive I don't see how the repair guys can make any money. Thanks for the reply.
 
mpscholle post_id=54971 time=1517488441 user_id=2702 said:
Thats rough... The parts are so expensive I dont see how the repair guys can make any money. Thanks for the reply.
Click to expand...
Well, I rarely hear wed better put in new reed sets. That will be a good investment of $100. Of course expensive parts are, whenever possible, salvaged. When there is extensive damage to reeds/sets (like corrosion), the accordion usually is no longer salvageable in an economic manner. As a result of the many expensive parts, maintaining accordions is so expensive I dont see how the musicians can make any money.
 
mpscholle post_id=54971 time=1517488441 user_id=2702 said:
Thats rough... The parts are so expensive I dont see how the repair guys can make any money. Thanks for the reply.
Click to expand...

Many people do not have their accordion maintained in any way for many years, because maintenance is so expensive.
Back in the days of smokey rooms maintenance would imply removing all the reed plates, cleaning them by soaking in naphta or something like that to get the dirt and grease to come off, and to do this all the valves needed to be removed as well and either placed back or replaced. Then everything needed to be rewaxed. You can imagine this was very expensive.
Repair guys make money because they charge a lot for the repairs, and some may also make money by lying about what was done. They may say things like we had the accordion tuned at the factory in Italy while doing it themselves in their own workshop. Luckily most repair guys seem to be honest and hard working. There are only a few cowboys in the business.
 
debra post_id=54979 time=1517494795 user_id=605 said:
mpscholle post_id=54971 time=1517488441 user_id=2702 said:
Thats rough... The parts are so expensive I dont see how the repair guys can make any money. Thanks for the reply.
Click to expand...

Many people do not have their accordion maintained in any way for many years, because maintenance is so expensive.
Back in the days of smokey rooms maintenance would imply removing all the reed plates, cleaning them by soaking in naphta or something like that to get the dirt and grease to come off, and to do this all the valves needed to be removed as well and either placed back or replaced. Then everything needed to be rewaxed. You can imagine this was very expensive.
Repair guys make money because they charge a lot for the repairs, and some may also make money by lying about what was done. They may say things like we had the accordion tuned at the factory in Italy while doing it themselves in their own workshop. Luckily most repair guys seem to be honest and hard working. There are only a few cowboys in the business.
Click to expand...

Do they still use naphtha for cleaning the reeds? And what is naphtha.. maybe a topic for a different thread.
 
mpscholle post_id=54980 time=1517496049 user_id=2702 said:
...
Do they still use naphtha for cleaning the reeds? And what is naphtha.. maybe a topic for a different thread.
Click to expand...

The stuff I use is sold in the Netherlands as wasbenzine. Its main ingredient is naphtha. Its great for cleaning anything that is greasy. (It is quite flammable so you have to be careful.)
As Jim says: cant run a shop without it!
The other product I can do without is (paint) thinner. This is actually not really used for thinning paint any more (maybe in industry it is) but I use it for thinning the glue that I use for valves.
 
mpscholle post_id=54957 time=1517448454 user_id=2702 said:
...I talked to the people at FMR. They said my minimum order quantity was $75US. Not sure if that is good or not. Also.. talked to a guy Italy he said he can ship me leathers, but said that US customs wont allow leather from Italy and would not be responsible if customs holds package.
Click to expand...

Nowadays, real leathers have gone out of fashion at least to some extent. The valves I got from Italy all have a (packaging) label that says pelle sintetiche and correspond roughly to what frm shows as viledon valves. Customs may be tough on the all-leather valves, but when they see sintetiche they should be more relaxed.
 
Ha-Vent is where the valves I use are made.
The cost in rebuilding comes from labor, not parts in most cases.
 
methylated spirit or surgical alcohol is good for removing glue/muck. But...an ultrasonic cleaning bath is also very useful (with associated cleaning fluid) and is what clock/watch repairers use to degrease and clean up clock parts.
 
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