Any thoughts on how to remove the bar holding the keys in place

[JulesMartin]

Hi I posted a few weeks back that I have found a 12 bass Firotti in my loft. We estimate it has been unused for about 30 years. It has sentimental importance to the family being my wife's Great Grandmothers who came over to England from Germany before WWII. Today I had a chance to have a look at it and to decide if it was worth the effort of getting up and running or putting back in the loft. Aside from dust and rust the bellows are remarkably good the valves all sound. Most of the bass buttons crumbled to fragments when first pushed but that's cosmetic. My biggest issues is that a key is binding against its neighbour. I've read enough on here and watched enough you tubes to know that there is a bar running through all the keys and this needs to be pulled out to make any repairs to the keys. The rod is seized tight and does not look to be original. I think it is brass and seems to be a bent piece of wire. So far I have gently twisted whilst pulling. I have tapped gently on the other end. I have used Mole grips. Nothing seems to be working. Any suggestions would be really appreciated
All the leathers on the outside valves are bending away, the inside ones all look to be ok, the valves have a small amount of rust. I don't play at all although do play other instruments. If I can get it working I'd like to see if i can learn to play with a view to getting something bigger if it all works out.
Thank you for your time

 

[Dingo40]

. Nothing seems to be working. Any suggestions would be really appreciated

Hi Jules,
Here's a recent thread by member 32251:

Removed broken stuck keyboard axle shaft.

Needed to remove the keys. End of the axle shaft is broken off. I have done a few of these and using a different technique…..depending on the way the key and keybed is made. This is a little Hohner 12 bass unit. The key sits completely in a wooden channel. If over the life of the instrument the...

www.accordionists.info

 

[32251]

saw your post. thanks to Dingo40 for the link.

you say you are "twisting" the axle shaft. you are not actually "spinning" the rod right?
on the end of some of the very vintage units, the axle shaft is bent into a loop. do not try to spin the shaft if its not moving. you will break off the loop on the end.

now you say that a key is rubbing. if you are only having trouble with just ONE key......try to fix that without removing the shaft. if the keys are physically touching each other, then take a piece of 120 grit sand paper and wedge it between the keys and remove just enough from
BOTH keys to give clearance. that being said, when a key is sticking, it might be sticking in the slot that that key rides in....different issue than rubbing against another key.

again....are you only having a sticking problem with just ONE key? if so....forget pulling the key axle. try first to fix the key. if it is a white key, and you have no success sanding between the keys, then you might consider removing the key cover to give you access to the slot the key is riding in. you can remove wood with sand paper till you free it up. you remove the white key cover by covering up the adjacent keys and very carefully heating up the key cover with either a heat gun or a heat lamp. again be CAREFUL. this is probably celluloid...it can catch fire. use a razor blade to wedge between the plastic and the wood. you can glue it back on and if done correctly, you will never know it was removed. believe me.....if you can fix one key like this, you will save yourself a huge job by not pulling the axle.

when you remove a key cover it lets you see exactly how the key is made. some keys have a metal tang at the end that rides in a slot. the key may be binding there and can sometimes be accessed with a screwdriver from the end. you move the tang to the right or left and that centers the key in the tang slot.

let us know if only one key is sticking. im sure there are other suggestions here for your issue from others who do repairs. best to you.

 

[JulesMartin]

Thanks Dingo40 for your help and suggestion and thanks 32251 for your very comprehensive reply. It is only one key so I will give your suggestions a go. I have only tried twisting through 90 degrees as I am very fearful of snapping the rod. Will keep you posted.

 

[Alan Polivka]

saw your post. thanks to Dingo40 for the link.

you say you are "twisting" the axle shaft. you are not actually "spinning" the rod right?
on the end of some of the very vintage units, the axle shaft is bent into a loop. do not try to spin the shaft if its not moving. you will break off the loop on the end.

now you say that a key is rubbing. if you are only having trouble with just ONE key......try to fix that without removing the shaft. if the keys are physically touching each other, then take a piece of 120 grit sand paper and wedge it between the keys and remove just enough from
BOTH keys to give clearance. that being said, when a key is sticking, it might be sticking in the slot that that key rides in....different issue than rubbing against another key.

again....are you only having a sticking problem with just ONE key? if so....forget pulling the key axle. try first to fix the key. if it is a white key, and you have no success sanding between the keys, then you might consider removing the key cover to give you access to the slot the key is riding in. you can remove wood with sand paper till you free it up. you remove the white key cover by covering up the adjacent keys and very carefully heating up the key cover with either a heat gun or a heat lamp. again be CAREFUL. this is probably celluloid...it can catch fire. use a razor blade to wedge between the plastic and the wood. you can glue it back on and if done correctly, you will never know it was removed. believe me.....if you can fix one key like this, you will save yourself a huge job by not pulling the axle.

when you remove a key cover it lets you see exactly how the key is made. some keys have a metal tang at the end that rides in a slot. the key may be binding there and can sometimes be accessed with a screwdriver from the end. you move the tang to the right or left and that centers the key in the tang slot.

let us know if only one key is sticking. im sure there are other suggestions here for your issue from others who do repairs. best to you.

If you decide to remove the keytop, be extremely careful because not only can it catch fire (as mentioned by 32251), but also can melt if the heat is too high or too concentrated. Celluloid keytops on old accordions can be brittle and can easily break, so be careful of that too. Sometimes, you can remove the keytop by gently and gradually inserting a thin knife between the keytop and the wooden key.

 

[Javthedog]

I had a 'scrapper' (yes, another one)........ realised if I twisted the mole grips, I'd likely break the brass wire.....that was less than 3mm so possibly 1/16th.... got the mole grips good and tight and with a judicially placed piece of wood. got a crowbar under the grips and managed to get a little movement on the wire. As it came out, I used more packing under the crowbar - and more packing........ got it out eventually. I did catch each key as it pinged off and numbered it....... It went back together, but then, when I tried to extract the reed blocks, I realised they were secured with massive great nailed-in staple things..........there was no way of getting them out and having a case left to put them back in. Bin men got a free accordion! So, what did I learn? ........spend time assessing the whole thing before starting...........!!

 

[boxplayer4000]

Jules: Don't let the bin men win!! Can you get us a picture of the 'massive, great, nailed in staple things.' There's loads of people on here who know all about staple things.

 

[Javthedog]

Sadly, too late........bin man's kid had early christmas prezzy!

 

[Snoopz]

Sadly, too late........bin man's kid had early christmas prezzy!

Oh no!