bayan repair

[Deleted member 48]

Video showing inside and repair work of a bayan.

Как настроить гармонь,баян.если рипит.

Ill need to sit down and take some more time to find and check out some of these Russian bayan/accordion repair videos.
There are quite some Russian videos on bayan/accordion repair.

 

[debra]

This is a good example of how NOT to repair an accordion and how NOT to make a video. I was already increasingly horrified but completely lost it when he brought out a rusty ax.
I cannot understand what he is saying but I can see what he is doing and trying to salvage an old leather is already a bad idea, then applying too much glue so the leather does not properly seal is another bad idea, spilling wax over the reed plate is equally bad an idea...
On the positive side the video shows that old russian reeds do not break as easily as I feared...

 

[Deleted member 48]

I have to disagree with you on this one.
Relax, it's only the close up of the wax and the reeds that is probably horrifying you.
If you would zoom in on some Western accordions reeds and wax, you'll get the same "horrified" experience.

In Russia many accordionists do repair their own accordions, the distances in Russia...
The steel in (some) Russian accordions can be of very good quality, and can last for many many years.

No, I disagree, the Russians can do some fine repair work on accordions and bayans.

 

[debra]

Look at these videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/ZenanoZ/videos for some real state of the art bayan repair.
If you see that you will understand why I was horrified to see the earlier video. I was a bit horrified when I saw the adjustment of the reed opening, then of the leather valve being glued, but finally completely when the ax came out... On the positive side: no dremel was used on the reeds :!:

 

[Edocaster]

I noticed in the middle of the video he spent some time showing his soldering iron circuit. It seemed somewhat dangerous, and he would have done better with a temperature controlled soldering iron, or even a light dimmer.

One question did come to mind though when I saw the axe... what is the procedure for sharpening a bass note (with a weight on the end)? Is it to file the weight, or the flat back of the tongue? To make a proportional difference to the mass distribution would surely take a lot of filing. Plus, aren't the weights lead? Filing these sounds dangerous to health.

 

[Deleted member 48]

Look at these videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/ZenanoZ/videos for some real state of the art bayan repair.
If you see that you will understand why I was horrified to see the earlier video. I was a bit horrified when I saw the adjustment of the reed opening, then of the leather valve being glued, but finally completely when the ax came out... On the positive side: no dremel was used on the reeds :!:

These are indeed fine examples of bayan repair.

The one I posted was with an older bayan, not every accordionist plays top quality bayans. I think the hands on mentality of those guys is great, they try to save and repair older accordions. Sometimes they even try to revive lost cases or near total loss accordions/bayans.
Maybe it looks a bit rough with the tapping on the reed plates, but in the end, I think they are doing a good job. Maybe its not perfect, but it doesnt always need to be perfect. We can also learn a lot from amateurs repairing accordions. And these guys dont look to me like beginners.
I am glad they put these videos on the net, to share with everyone.
My intention simply was to draw attention to the high number of Russian, Ukrainian, ... accordion repair videos. Regardless of the quality of the accordions being repaired.

One of the purposes of sharing accordion videos online is also helping each other. sometimes asking for advice or help.
Every step in the right direction can help. And we also learn from mistakes. (Not everyone has easy access to the best of materials for the repair, or ... the budget to buy the best repair materials in large quantities. Sometimes they use recycled material). So I hope these videos stay online.

close ups of bayan reedplate work

Сбивка голосовых планок


Как настроить гармонь,баян 3 октавы.


Ремонт гармошки, баяна, аккордеона и т.п. часть 14
(chapter 14)

Example of a near total loss bellows case (Very interesting to watch; even with this simple cloth being used):

Ремонт гармошки, баяна, аккордеона и т.п. часть 23

Some accordion amateurs have tens of online repair videos on YT.

I know many accordion players, even professional artists,in Russia, also do repair on their boxes.

Как отремонтировать гармонь?

 

[debra]

I noticed in the middle of the video he spent some time showing his soldering iron circuit. It seemed somewhat dangerous, and he would have done better with a temperature controlled soldering iron, or even a light dimmer.

One question did come to mind though when I saw the axe... what is the procedure for sharpening a bass note (with a weight on the end)? Is it to file the weight, or the flat back of the tongue? To make a proportional difference to the mass distribution would surely take a lot of filing. Plus, arent the weights lead? Filing these sounds dangerous to health.

A light dimmer is what I use. But using a diode to reduce the current by half is certainly not bad as a rough approach (and cheaper).
The proper procedure for increasing the pitch of a note is always to file on the outside. For the large reeds with weights it means filing on the weight (which on modern reeds is copper, not lead). The reality (i.e. related to workload) is that this is a lot of work. To increase the pitch of a note used by pulling (opening the bellows) one should remove the reed plate to get better access to the outer side of the reed (the side that is innermost inside the reed block). Pulling the reed through and filing the then exposed side is so much faster that everyone does this, even in the accordion factories. But ideally you would remove the reed and file on the correct side.
When tuning the highest (smallest) reeds I always just remove the reed plate to have better access to both sides. The exact opening and shape are so critical for a well-sounding reed that its just not safe to try to do it with the reed plate on the reed block.
For the larger reeds filing on the reed instead of the weight has a bit of influence on the opening as well. I do try to file on the weight for both sides and not file on the reed itself.

 

[Deleted member 48]

Reed filing can be hard work.
If this can help, today makers often use small machinery for reed filing.

Start at 600 for the filing and tuning:

Produktion Puschtra Harmonika

(I have seen 2 videos of accordions/melodeons being tuned with this kind of hand operated machine filing, and they work very fast)

The traditional way of manual reed filing / scratching for finetunging in combination with the machinery can ease the labor a bit.

 

[debra]

Reed filing can be hard work.
If this can help, today makers often use small machinery for reed filing.

Such use of a Dremel or similar tool is generally considered bad, because 1) its easy to overdo it so you have to compensate for instance lowering too much by sharpening again (that actually happens in the video), 2) it generates a heat differential in the metal, more so than when filing and 3) there is a risk to take too much off at a single point, resulting in a weak spot.
Using a file and/or scraper is slower but better.

 

[Deleted member 48]

Use of machinery and dremels is often done in the pre tuning phase. The fine tuning and tuning of the thinnest, shortest reeds requires care, and will be done with handoperated scratchers and files.
Dremel use in reed tuning is done by experts.

The use of dremels (different types exist with different rotation speeds, and also different heads, for hard steel and for softer/weaker material) is seen with the well known makers in Germany and Eastern parts of Europe.

start at 200

Strasser Harmonika Firmenvideo

another machine here, start at 155

Italian accordion reed maker at work

A combination of dremels and handfiles/scratchers often is the case, also in Italy.
The result can be seen on the types of marks and scratches left on the reeds.

 

[JerryPH]

Thank-you for sharing this little wealth of tuning info, you can bet that I will be going through each video in the future.

 

[kimric]

I agree with Stephen regarding power tools. About half the tuning I do is with a dremel some sort. It is really about how you use the tools or how familiar you are with them. I worked at Segate building hard drives in the 80's. I dont't recall that hand files or sandpaper were involved.

The diode is pretty clever a you don't have the heat dissipation issues you would have with a huge resistor, though a lightbulb will do this job well.

The ax is serving as a anvil. the reed weight is riveted not soldered as you may notice and I am guessing it was slightly loose and may be the tuning problem. He is tightening the rivets.