what wood for a reed block

[wobblybox]

Hi

I have been looking over a few repair videos on you tube and i came across one where the person was making a new reed block. That got me thinking about what type of wood would you use, obviously is was something better than pine as it had no knots and would you bake the wood in an over to ensure it was totally dry or at least down to a very low moisture content to prevent the finished reed block from warping.

 

[kimric]

Poplar is often used but white pine works well also. The base should be walnut to resist warping and it is easier to work with in regards to drilling the holes.
You should use aged wood that has been cut close to size and is milled flat to prevent warping after assembly.

 

[JIM D.]

Unlike today, Accordion manufacturers in the past used hardwoods that were kiln dried for a minimum of 10 years to 15 years for accordion bodies and reed blocks for their top of the line and even their mediocre model lines with no concern for Planned Obsolescence.
Today, many brands ,Chinese, German and some inexpensive Italian accordions offered by dealers are offering accordions for a price that looks affordable but are made of current soft woods and with any hard use will only become An accident waiting to happen
If you must, use poplar

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/5-best-construction-uses-for-poplar-wood

than be found kiln dried at local lumber suppliers and or salvage old wood from an older piece of furniture that is made of hardwood and can be salvaged

 

[Granitz]

This is a topic that I've been experimenting with some lately. I agree with Jim D...poplar is a great choice for many reasons: wide-spread availability, easy to work, economical, and provides a warm tone.

Recently, I made new treble reed blocks for a 1960's non-cassotto, LMMM Pancordion. For blocks 1 & 3 (dry-tuned Bassoon and Clarinet) I used the following:
- 1/16" Basswood for the center divider
- Walnut w/vertical grain for the base
- Poplar for chamber walls and cap

The end result was very good. The L & M reeds produced an even, clear, and warm tone.

For blocks 2 & 4 (musette clarinets) I used the following:
- hard Maple w/vertical grain for the base
- aged European Spruce (16-20 grains/inch) for chamber walls and cap
- 1/16" Basswood for center divider

These blocks produced a much "brighter" and "piercing" tone, but the position of the blocks in the accordion may have something to do with it as well.

A final note, the choice of glue used makes a difference as well. I use high impact strength hot hide glue. It dries harder, fills gaps, and makes cleaning the dried squeeze-out much easier than yellow glue. Because it dries very hard, I believe more energy is transferred than absorbed...though I can't readily prove this theory.

 

[Granitz]

These photos show the grain orientation for the base. The two bases in the top photo we're cut from the larger blank in the bottom photo.

 

[wout]

Ive been thinking about this as well. I watched some guitar making docus and i wondered if they use tonewoods or go for practical reasons like easyness to work with, strength, warping etc in accordionbuilding. I would be very interested into experimenting with guitar/violin techniques for accordion reedblocks since they are the resonance chambers of the instrument essentially right? I have no knowledge really on this subject but i think its interesting!