The project is making of accordion reed plates. Each plate is about 2x15 inches (more of irregular trapezoid), thickness ranges from 1/4 to 1/16 inch. The cuts range from 1/16 wide to 1/4 wide, lengths from 1/2 to 2 inches. Each plate has about 40 cuts of different lengths/widths (as tone increases, the size of the cut decreases).
Cuts have to be as close to perfect rectangle as possible. I will inevitably have to work on them with a thin file to schamfer the slots, so some irregularities are ok, as I will take them off.
What's the best way to go about it ? Assuming 12 such plates need to be made and proposed way to go about it, how much will it cost ?
I was thinking about:
- abrasive-machining
- EDM
- milling
punching holes with (premade) dies is out of question as it is not a mass production deal and I can foot the initial cost.
Horizontal mill with an assortment of slitting saws. Make nice clean cuts and if you gang the saws, can do a bunch of slots at the same time.
Gunner "To be civilized is to restrain the ability to commit mayhem. To be incapable of committing mayhem is not the mark of the civilized, merely the domesticated." - Trefor Thomas
Clearly, waterjet machining is one way to go (I incorrectly called it "abrasive machining"). It has to be the fastest way too - as far as actual cutting goes, as it is driven by computer based off a CAD drawing.
One (and only?) drawback with abrasive-jet-machining is lack of perfect
90-degreee corners. Nothing that a few strokes with a file won't fix.
I reckon laser is also CNC, but it is known to alter metal's structure significantly and for some reason I feel it is going to be expensive. Will it work of a reflective surface - like that of alluminum ?
I am trying to make "russian" style reed plates ... as soon as it gets warmer :) here in NJ.
I started looking at mini-mills . They are not that expensive and end mills come in 1/16" and even smaller diameters.
This is probably how I would to it - but the trouble is that some of the slots are only 1/2 inch long. No doubt those would be ones smack in the center of the plate, too.
Jim
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Basically, the plates need to be rectangular in shape, and having sharp internal corners with straight sides--and at least one end needs to be relatively straight also.
I suppose they could be roughed this way, or with an endmill to an oval shape and then broached or finished with a vertical slotter.
DoN Nichols happens to be an avid squeezebox player, and also has a nice website on the topic--I have hotlinked to his site below, a page showing one style of reed plate / reed assembly used within one of his concertinas :
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On piano and button accordians having the keys arranged in rows, the reed plates are often long, and have a series of slots for a fairly large number of reeds on single plates, IIRC. ( Its been a while since I had any of mine apart )
FWIW :
A deluxe piano accordian will often have what is known as a 4 / 5 reed set, meaning 5 octaves in the bass, and 4 sets in the treble covering 2-1/2 octaves each, each note havng a reed for push, as well for pull--I aint gonna do the math, but thats a whole bunch of reeds, a newer high quality professional accordian selling for well over $10,000 last time I checked .
Mea culpa.. I was thinking grooves rather than slots through the metal.
Yup..it could well be done with a slitting saw, but as you say, the small ones might require a long nosed endmill holder and a key way cutter.
Crank the knee upwards and sink the cutters into the metal. But yes, water jet or laser is probably the way to go. I think Id tend to go with laser, but it depends on who gives you the best price. The entire assembly could be cut at the same time, in multiples from a sheet of material
Gunner
"To be civilized is to restrain the ability to commit mayhem. To be incapable of committing mayhem is not the mark of the civilized, merely the domesticated." - Trefor Thomas
Yup, laser or waterjet and do a bunch of assemblies at the same time. With varying slots per your drawing.
Gunner
"To be civilized is to restrain the ability to commit mayhem. To be incapable of committing mayhem is not the mark of the civilized, merely the domesticated." - Trefor Thomas
And -- the ends of the slots need to be fairly near vertical (a slight angle is actually required at the tip of the reeds, but the length left by a stack of cutters on a horizontal mill arbor would generate tons of leaks.
What he is wanting to make is what is called the "long-plate" reed plate -- an entire bank of reeds mounted to both sides of a single plate. The makers of the Bandoneon, and the Russian Bayan seem to prefer these. (The construction is also found on really old cheaply made accordions -- with the plates being zinc -- and perhaps cast to approximate dimensions.)
Most modern accordions have a single pair of reeds on a given plate -- one for the press, and one for the draw. One of the major benefits of this is that it is easier to replace a failed reed (often by replacing the pair, unless the repairman is good at making and fitting riveted reeds.)
Guilty as charged! :-)
This is the style of reed carriers used in the English construction concertinas -- English *system*, Anglo system, and several duet systems. They were also used in a French instrument which is more like a tiny single-row button accordion, except that the reed construction parallels that of the English. That instrument was called the "Flutina", IIRC.
One benefit of this construction is that there is more mass in the extended reed plate, to minimize vibration of the riveted root end of the reeds. This allows less air flow to maintain a given volume of sound. (And it has subtle effects on the overall sound of the instrument, which some, at least, are willing to pay the extra cost for.
Yep -- but not too many are selling new, these days -- though there is a growing number of people playing them -- as they recover from the "great accordion crash" of the 1950s when rock-and-roll edged the then common style of music found on accordions out of the limelight.
You will find more people playing the various ethnic variants of accordions, as that is where the life is still in the field -- and a growing interest. One of those is the Russian Bayan (I believe one of the variants of the CBAs (Chromatic Button Accordions), which I believe is what you are trying to make. The PA (Piano(key) Accordion) is recovering more slowly.
BTW -- I *think* that the English style instruments reed carriers are made by either punching or casting to approximate shape, and then driving a a swage into the slot to expand it to the proper dimension, and to introduce the chamfer below the top surface of the carrier, so the reed can breathe well enough at low bellows pressure. Most of those are brass -- though there are aluminum reed carriers -- which don't sound as good as the brass ones in my opinion.
Rock And Roll and accordions don't mix, you say? "Wierd Al" Yankovic
Welcome to Heaven, here's your harp... ;-) The Accordion has it's place as a nice portable instrument for many different musical and playing styles - unless they crap it up as a Cordovox and tie you down to electricity and an amplifier again.
At least, it's gotten to the point where I don't run screaming at the first two notes anymore... ;-)
Then again, Rod Miller
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a very nice "Lady of Spain" on a piano, doing the tremolo the hard way. (Since it's really hard to shake a piano...) When you play
6+ hours a day and have arms like rocks, you can pull that off.
ObMetal Content: Has anyone tried cryo-treating piano strings? That Yamaha U-1 piano (6 years old going on 600) gets played 6 to 10 hours a day and goes through several strings a week...
I'm saying that they were not perceived as mixing at that time (late 1950s), when the guitar was *the* instrument.
"Weird Al" is a phenomenon all by himself. :-)
But accordions *are* moving back into some popular music. I understand that one group which features an accordion is "They Might Be Giants". (Not the sort of music that I normally listen to, as I prefer traditional music (what used to be called "Folk Music", before the recording industry ran away with the term. :-)
Agreed. My own preferred instruments are the English system concertina, and pennywhistles -- for my own playing, at least. Both are much more portable than even the accordion, and the concertina is a free reed instrument, like the accordion.
:-)
And LOS is probably as strongly associated with the crash as any single musical piece. Old time accordionists *hate* to be asked to play it -- because it was done so many times -- and so badly -- by students.
Hmm ... while we're about it -- that might be an interesting treatment for concertina reeds, too.
Yep -- the midwest polka world never *left* the accordions -- though they often use a specialized concertina (big and square) called the Chemnitzer.
Sure -- a familiar name from rec.music.makers.squeezebox. The popular music world is the *last* to recover from the accordion crash. There are even occasionally accordions showing up in classical pieces.
"To be civilized is to restrain the ability to commit mayhem. To be incapable of committing mayhem is not the mark of the civilized, merely the domesticated." - Trefor Thomas
Banjo aint that bad I guess......EXCEPT the ones that got that extra string on em--kinda like a scab, too many folks just dont know when to stop pickin it......
Gunner, 5 string picker, mountain dulcimer noodler. "To be civilized is to restrain the ability to commit mayhem. To be incapable of committing mayhem is not the mark of the civilized, merely the domesticated." - Trefor Thomas
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