Greetings. Could someone please direct me to either someone, or some information to forming brass as they would have done in the mid 1800s. Specifically, I restore, and repair accordeons, and instruments called flutinas from this period. The air key is made of brass. It looks like an elongated brass spoon. I would like to be able to repair, or make a replacement of such a key, and to do is in a similar fashion as would have been done in the mid 1800s. Any and all help, guidance, direction, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Thank you Bob. I have done years of research on these instruments, own several of the original items, however my interest lies in the technique and practical aspects of "how to" manufacture such items. Andy
Could have been made from sheet(if thin) by either stamping or rolling. If it's truly spoon-shaped, tableware was mass-produced by shearing from sheet using shaped rollers during and after that period. If you're going to make 100k of them, you could do it that way. Otherwise, nibble it out of sheet stock and use jeweler's tools to dap it into shape. Anneal as needed. A fellow named Holtzapffel wrote a series of books titled "Turning and Mechanical Manipulation" that covers just about all the workshop processes known at that time. He's mostly known for decorative geometric turning lathes, the series covers a lot more than that.
I would like to be able to make (small qantity ... one right now for my prototype) the brass air key for a mid 1800's accordeon/ flutina. I am new to this group, however I understand there is a place to post pictures. Could I place one, or more there for you to look at, and see if this is something you could guide me through, or to the information I need? Thank you in advance for your help.
I looked for the reference and found out that this is a five volume series. Could you please tell me in which of the volumnes the most pertenant information for which I am looking would be found? Thank you for the information.
Note that the instrument in question is not brass -- just some parts of it, such as the air "spoon" valve which he wants to make. Most of the exterior of the instrument is wood or cardboard. (Think of it as a small relative of the accordion.)
I think that the word "brass" was in the wrong place in the "Subject: " header. I would have worded it slightly modified as follows:
}}}}} Subject: 19th Century musical instrument Brass air key {{{{{
to make it clear that it is not a brass instrument overall.
[ ... ]
The proper place is the dropbox at:
then click on the "About the Dropbox" bar to find out how to prepare and submit your images (and accompanying text file). In particular, while Windows and some other systems accept spaces in filenames, this can be a problem on other systems, so the dropbox submission software automatically changes spaces to underscores '_' to prevent this problem.
I see you found rec.crafts.metalworking, which is one of the places which I would have sent you if our phone call could have gone on longer. I was sort of expecting another call on Sunday. :-)
Place it there, then once you have the confirmation that it is in place, post the file names and the URL of the dropbox here along with a summary of what you want to do.
Hi, Could you just email me the picture direct? What I think you will find is that brass work, key making, in 1850 is much like what would be done today sans the power. They still soft soldered, using blow pipes they still hard soldered just a lot more hand work was involved. Looking forward to seeing the picture.
There are four files that have been posted to the dropbox:
formatting link
required text file (informational)
formatting link
Key: Top View
formatting link
Key: Underneath View
formatting link
Key: Side View
I would like help in producing an air key like this one. It is from a Mid 19th Century Musical Instrument, which is one of the predecessors of the Accordeon. The Air Key is made of brass. I would like to know if anyone can help, or direct me as to how to reproduce this item. I am interested in the techniques used at the time, jigs, fixtures, machinery that I might need to accomplish this task, tips, tricks, and any other information others are willing to share.
Thank you, Andy
Don, I didn't know when you would be back from your weekend event. I hope you had an enjoyable time. Thank you.
You will want to correct that spelling to "Accordion" if you post on rec.music.makers.squeezebox as they get touchy bout that. Though your spelling might be correct for the period when your instrument was made -- or in Spanish-speaking countries.
O.K. For this (I had not expected it to be four-parts riveted together -- this makes it easier to make.
1) First -- get some brass sheet - a little thicker than what was used here because you will be thinning it by the shaping.
Do you have a lathe and a milling machine? They would help in making the fixtures which you will use to make the parts.
2) Make a round piece of steel just a little larger in diameter than the valve cover itself, and turn (if on a lathe) or file it to a gentle dome to match the underside of the valve cover.
3) Place a piece of the brass somewhat oversized over the steel fixture from (3) above, and gently hammer it to conform to the dome which you have produced. I would probably leave a strip say 1/2" wide and an inch and a half long or a bit more to allow you to grip it out of range of the hammer blows.
4) Cut off the edges -- with chisels or hand held sheet metal shears such as are used in the air-conditioning trade, then file the edge to a smooth round shape appropriate to function of the valve.
5) Make another piece of steel which fits the underside of the lever. To do this, you will have to separate the original valve into its individual parts, though the one for under the valve dome could be done without this. You will probably *have* to use files for this, as a milling machine can only get you part-way there.
6) Cut out another sheet of brass, again with an extension for gripping, and prepare to hammer this one to shape over the form made in (5) above. You will have to heat the brass several times to allow bending it enough to form what you want without cracking the brass, as it hardens from the work, and needs to be heated enough to soften it again. Again file the edges to shape after forming it.
7) It looks as though the holes were originally formed by punching through the brass, though drill bits in a small drill press will do it -- except that you will have to dull the bits before drilling, as they tend to grab in brass and start spinning what you were trying to drill -- often cutting your hand.
8) The fulcrum on which the lever pivots looks as though it was made from two pieces -- the upright stuck through a slot in the baseplate and then peened over.
9) The spring is more brass (though steel would work better, but would be vulnerable to rust over the years. That one you can probably make from scrap left over from cutting out the other parts, and the last part of its forming would involve hammering it thinner to make it more spring-like. The other parts will probably be left somewhat soft depending on how long since the last annealing (heat treating to soften it) vs how much hammering on it has been done afterwards.
10) All the rest of the pieces will be held to each other with rivets formed from brass rod softened, hammered on the end to expand and form a head, then stuck through both holes and hammered on the other end to expand that end.
Note that the fixtures will benefit from having extra mass of steel behind them, so more of the energy of the hammer blows goes into shaping the part and less into moving it. They can either be made to rest on a small anvil, or can be made of a lot of steel so they have sufficient mass on their own. In the case of the first one with the dome, if it is made perhaps eight inches long or so, it will probably have enough mass on its own.
Granted -- in today's work -- or even back in the 1920s -- the parts would be formed by stamping them from sheet metal with progressive dies, making things a lot easier to make -- but more expensive in the initial setup, and certainly not proper period construction.
All I warned you about was Saturday. Sunday was mostly clear. Tomorrow (Wednesday) will have me out of the house quite a bit of the day, so that will not be a good day.
I certainly did enjoy the Saturday. (And spent a bit of it showing a long-time friend how to work on her concertina (English System), while getting some sluggish reeds to start up more quickly.
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