TOOLS

[mpscholle]

Fun idea for a topic... TOOLS!

I thought a good idea would be to talk tools. Repair and Restoration tools.

I'm currently having a friend fashion some key rod bending tools. I'll post a pick later this week if he gets them completed.

But so far here is my list for some essentials.

[*] Needle nose Vise grips!
[*] Electricians pliers
[*] Needle nose pliers
[*] Various sized screw drivers
[*] Small round paint brush
[*] 400+ Grit Sandpaper
[*] Glue (Fabri Tac)
[*] Tweezers
[*] Toothbrush (refreshing leather nap & cleaning)
[*] Small finishing hammer
[*] Measuring Calipers
----

What in still need!!!

[*] Bending rods
[*] Tuning files (any suggestions?)

What else?

 

[Morne]

You're missing reed scratchers. And perhaps thin strips of metal (gauge feelers) for lifting/pinging reeds.

What I would be interested in is how people make their own tools. Specifically, reed scratchers. Over at melodeon.net I've read about 3 ways of making your own by grinding old needle files or using rounded allen keys or snapped off HSS cobalt drill bits. And then in all cases keeping them sharpened to 90 degrees using diamond plates.

 

[debra]

Youre missing reed scratchers. And perhaps thin strips of metal (gauge feelers) for lifting/pinging reeds.

What I would be interested in is how people make their own tools. Specifically, reed scratchers. Over at melodeon.net Ive read about 3 ways of making your own by grinding old needle files or using rounded allen keys or snapped off HSS cobalt drill bits. And then in all cases keeping them sharpened to 90 degrees using diamond plates.

All good tips here. I too reuse old small files and such to create scratchers. Professionals in some sense have an easier life as all needed tools are commercially available from the major Italian supplier(s)...

 

[JeffJetton]

Ice cube tray (empty, of course). For putting pins and screws in, such that you can keep track of where they came out.

A bunch of empty plastic yogurt/pudding cups work well for this too. You put the first screws/pins you remove in one, then nest another on top. Continue until done. To reassemble, just work your way back down the stack. Everything is in reverse order of disassembly. (Since we have computer people here... it's both literally and figuratively a "stack"!)

Disadvantage of the cups over the ice cube tray is that it's not as easy to associate a bellows pin with an exact location. Advantage over the tray is that you'll might still be okay if you accidentally knock the nested cups off the table.

 

[Mr Mark]

I made this block for storing my pins when they come out of my accordion, works good for keeping them in order - I may have to sand some off as the smaller pinheads I have a hard time grasping to pull out so a thinner block means i can push them up from the underside.

Headlamp
Flexible mirror (for seeing under keys or bass mechanism without taking apart)
Measuring stick - I use this almost more than anything for measuring and as a bit of a feeler gauge and/or poking around.

I have a table lamp/mirror combo which is highly recommended for a variety of purposes.

I have found a dremel tool to be a fairly solid investment for a variety of things - scratching, cutting holes in the grill (round) for volume pots to go through etc.

I also have an older drafting table I salvaged some time ago which has a number of container trays on one side which has been invaluable for at least one rebuild as there were so many parts and this way the yogurt cups didn't get knocked to the floor, otherwise I concur with the empty yogurt cups and such for screws and small parts.

I bought a cheap hotplate and secondhand mini-pot for melting wax.

I made my own spoons from a single piece of 'step flashing' (for roofing) and misc. pieces of wood I had around, as well as some old nails.

Safety pins and/or paper clips bent to function as affixed inner reed puller outers .

For scratchers I have found a cheap set of files from the dollar store works, and I have no issues mangling them to suit my purpose.

I also have a wheel cutter and cutting sheet for felts - I have found these fairly challenging.

iPad with tuning app, and homebuilt tuning table.

Car battery with booster cables :b (might be a good idea to have tow truck coverage in case you butcher the battery).

Probably have spent enough to have covered the costs of all the repairs I have done myself, but I wouldn't feel terribly comfortable working on anything 'high quality' of someone else at this point although pretty close.

 

[mpscholle]

I made this block for storing my pins when they come out of my accordion, works good for keeping them in order - I may have to sand some off as the smaller pinheads I have a hard time grasping to pull out so a thinner block means i can push them up from the underside.

Headlamp
Flexible mirror (for seeing under keys or bass mechanism without taking apart)
Measuring stick - I use this almost more than anything for measuring and as a bit of a feeler gauge and/or poking around.

I have a table lamp/mirror combo which is highly recommended for a variety of purposes.

I have found a dremel tool to be a fairly solid investment for a variety of things - scratching, cutting holes in the grill (round) for volume pots to go through etc.

I also have an older drafting table I salvaged some time ago which has a number of container trays on one side which has been invaluable for at least one rebuild as there were so many parts and this way the yogurt cups didnt get knocked to the floor, otherwise I concur with the empty yogurt cups and such for screws and small parts.

I bought a cheap hotplate and secondhand mini-pot for melting wax.

I made my own spoons from a single piece of step flashing (for roofing) and misc. pieces of wood I had around, as well as some old nails.

Safety pins and/or paper clips bent to function as affixed inner reed puller outers .

For scratchers I have found a cheap set of files from the dollar store works, and I have no issues mangling them to suit my purpose.

I also have a wheel cutter and cutting sheet for felts - I have found these fairly challenging.

iPad with tuning app, and homebuilt tuning table.

Car battery with booster cables :b (might be a good idea to have tow truck coverage in case you butcher the battery).

Probably have spent enough to have covered the costs of all the repairs I have done myself, but I wouldnt feel terribly comfortable working on anything high quality of someone else at this point although pretty close.

Have any photos of your tuning table?

 

[Mr Mark]

There are some in this thread here (page 3)> https://www.accordionists.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3347

Easy to do with some scrap wood, weatherstripping, plumbing strap or hinge and your existing bellows. Not professional grade but sufficient for my needs.

 

[mpscholle]

Here is a photo of some key bending tools I had made. Going to make a few more changes, but they work well.

 

[mpscholle]

Created this tool today. Needed something to pull up the undersided (inside) reed so I can tune it. So here it is. Brass, so not to scratch the Reed.

 

[JIM D.]

Nice job - your getting there - add --
your chemicals -- VM&P Naphta (Cleaner & solvvent)
Acetone -- (Melts & glues cellulose)
White wood Glue (Elmers?)
5 Min. Epoxy
Super Glue
Isopropyl Alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol)
WD-40
Elmer's Slide - All

 

[Granitz]

Nice job on making a reed lifting tool, mpscholle. That will definitely being one of my next tools to make. I particularly like the brass...easy material to work with and it leaves no marks. Great job and look forward to more posts from you!

 

[Geronimo]

Huh: that lifter requires removing the reed blocks. I thought the standard tool was a thin brass strip bent at the tip and in breadth somewhat shy of the reed width which you sleep through the reed gap and then pull out again. That gets the reed wedged in and then pulled through the gap (somewhat contorted as the reed gap is not really thick enough to accommodate the brass strip) so that you can then slip a somewhat stronger brass plate underneath and work on the reed.

Is there enough interest to let me make a video of it? To be taken with a grain of salt since I learnt this from a book rather than an actual accordion tuner?

That's iffy for the smallest reeds. I could imagine working with some suction tool instead.

 

[mpscholle]

Huh: that lifter requires removing the reed blocks. I thought the standard tool was a thin brass strip bent at the tip and in breadth somewhat shy of the reed width which you sleep through the reed gap and then pull out again. That gets the reed wedged in and then pulled through the gap (somewhat contorted as the reed gap is not really thick enough to accommodate the brass strip) so that you can then slip a somewhat stronger brass plate underneath and work on the reed.

Is there enough interest to let me make a video of it? To be taken with a grain of salt since I learnt this from a book rather than an actual accordion tuner?

Thats iffy for the smallest reeds. I could imagine working with some suction tool instead.

Id always be interested in seeing it. Post a vid.

The tool I made was for lifting the actual thing steel Reed blade, not the Reed plate. And it is essentially what you described, just a small brass wire.

Im still in the process of building a tool to break the Reed from the wax. I was going to make it from steel with some wool felt on the end.

 

[Morne]

Id always be interested in seeing it. Post a vid.

Here are 2 examples of the reed lifter method described by Geronimo:



The other method uses a hook tool:

Is there enough interest to let me make a video of it? To be taken with a grain of salt since I learnt this from a book rather than an actual accordion tuner?

While there are advantages to this method compared to the hook tool, one disadvantage seem to be that if you do this wrong you could damage the reed. So if you have any tips or tricks for avoiding that, please do post a video. (Or maybe its just as simple as using the right tool carefully?)

 

[Geronimo]

Id always be interested in seeing it. Post a vid.

Here are 2 examples of the reed lifter method described by Geronimo:



The other method uses a hook tool:

Is there enough interest to let me make a video of it? To be taken with a grain of salt since I learnt this from a book rather than an actual accordion tuner?

While there are advantages to this method compared to the hook tool, one disadvantage seem to be that if you do this wrong you could damage the reed. So if you have any tips or tricks for avoiding that, please do post a video. (Or maybe its just as simple as using the right tool carefully?)

Well, one thing is to use brass, another is to use a tool that almost fills the breadth of the reed slot: if its too small, it will all sorts of get fighty with the reed edge. So you want to have this tool in a few different sizes. Another is not to lever out the reed but just pull straight: friction will take the reed along until it passes the reed gap. Once it is in the reed plate, you can pivot for the rest.

 

[debra]

The hook tool is useful when the reed block cannot be removed. I have messed around with bent paperclips to make a hook tool that fits the type (size) of reed to be pulled out.
The lifter or "Herausheber" is something I don't want to use. It can be done with machine reeds that have room to spare but as I work mostly on accordions with "a mano" reeds there is no room for the lifter to fit and I do not want to squeeze and bend the reeds out of shape. Maybe I'm just overly cautious.

 

[Geronimo]

The hook tool is useful when the reed block cannot be removed. I have messed around with bent paperclips to make a hook tool that fits the type (size) of reed to be pulled out.
The lifter or Herausheber is something I dont want to use. It can be done with machine reeds that have room to spare but as I work mostly on accordions with a mano reeds there is no room for the lifter to fit and I do not want to squeeze and bend the reeds out of shape. Maybe Im just overly cautious.

Well, the whole trick of the lifter is that there is no room to spare. Thats why you can pull the reed through in the first place, otherwise the lifter would just slip out without capturing the reed. Yes, the reed bends in some sort of S shape to pass through the reed gap. Thats not actually the problem (the reed bends all the time when playing). The problem is if the lifter is too narrow and the reed twists, trapping the lifter at some off angle. Then its ugly to get the lifter out again. Not awfully so, but ugly still. You probably want a bit of practice for that. The lifting action itself is pretty much the same independent of reed quality since the lifter is thicker than the reed gap in either cheap or expensive reeds.

 

[mpscholle]

Just finished making another Reed tool.

 

[boxplayer4000]

There's a good list here for a start.
Re. Lifting the inner reed for scratching I presently access it by lifting it from the adjacent reed space but this requires changing tools from hand to hand i.e.. lift, support, scratch. I've seen a tool demonstrated which is inserted past the tip of the reed to be lifted and by simply twisting the tool the reed tip is lifted clear (no need to change tools in the hand). It may have a German name. A Norwegian tuner has a good video on YouTube demonstrating it and makes it seem so simple. Is there any information on its size, material or operation please?
I find a good camera useful at the dismantling stage especially when midi plugs etc. have to be removed and when basses are dismantled and the different stages in doing so.

 

[boxplayer4000]

The video I refer to in my last post is here:

I would welcome a bit more explanation of how this tool is made and used. It certainly seems to have advantages over a wire hook lifting the reed from the adjacent reed space.