After both tops are carefully lined up and bolted together, I drill a couple of small holes to accept a few 2/56 brass binding head screws. This will hold the tops together securely while I cut the fretwork.
Securing the tops
Now I move back to the drill press and drill a hole through every part that must be cut out of the fretwork.
Now this takes some time on a big instrument. The blade must be removed and replaced for each cutour.
I just takes patience and attention to detail at this point. Scroll sawing requires a bit of practice. The blade responds to the grain direction; the blade breaks and scares the bejesus out of me as I concentrate on creating a gentle flow in the wood. Depending on the wood and the thickness I have to decide on a proper blade.
I am asked many times "How did
you learn to build concertinas?" I started by soaking an antique
concertina in a bucket of water and
soaked it till it fell apart, then recorded the dimensions of the
pieces. In all truthfullness, I learned
by building a bad concertina, changing one variable, then
building a
less bad concertina.
Over and over. For years.
Definately not the way you want your surgeon to learn his craft.
Over and over. For years.
Definately not the way you want your surgeon to learn his craft.
I was in the habit a couple
years ago of putting concertinas on the road and inviting players to
check out the concertina, mail it to another player etc. I
kept note of all the comments and used the information for a reality
check and to make changes in my work. Here are the notes I
recieved on the 2003 Tour
http://hmi.homewood.net/tour/
I may not get another page up for a day or so, but I will try to
provide interesting reading until the fretwork is completed.http://hmi.homewood.net/tour/
Bob