TUTORIAL #9: HOW TO WAX IN ACCORDION REEDS

[@dyna.macabre]

I replaced the valves on my flea market accordion, with help from your videos. Thanks!

[@TomsMusicShop]

Excellent!

[@vodoc]

I've been using a soldering iron with a flat angled tip for spot repairs and it work perfectly. If the iron gets too hot, it can sublimate some of it so you'll want some extra wax on hand to add.

[@leojoseph6009]

Wow way easier with iron I bought this cross bow wax from Cdn tire just cut off small amounts push it in place then just run the iron. Thanks

[@sunnasmilieu]

I'm slowly waiting to get the resources to fix up an inherited piece. This video was very interesting.

[@LecrazyMaffe]

This is the tutorial I was waiting for. Thanks a bunch Tom! Great content.

[@TomsMusicShop]

Thank you for that, Ambiorix! Happy this could be useful.

[@raccoon6072]

What is the best temperature for melting the wax?

[@adamcolbertmusic]

I haven't opened up my accordion yet but this really helps identify a problem sound! You can really hear that the "exhale" has more wheezing and loss of volume, and the "inhale" is slightly better because the suction at least pulls the reed into the block somewhat. Thanks! So, I know that wax is the tried and true method for this, and when the accordion was invented it was the available technology for sealing wood gaps, but honestly I think a careful application of Liquid Nails would work just as well! That's probably what I'll try on my bargain accordion 😊 I mean, sure, you'd want to use wax for your Weltmeister or Hohner just for the sake of keeping it classy, but the important thing is sealing up the air gap, right?? 😁

[@TomsMusicShop]

Well yes, you have to close the air gap, but wax has the advantage that you can remove the reeds easily when you need to. If you epoxy them in there, you can forget about ever replacing a broken one, I would imagine. Cheers!

[@adamcolbertmusic]

@@TomsMusicShop okay thanks! Also, adhesive has a long dry/cure time, so there's that!

[@adamcolbertmusic]

@@TomsMusicShop Okay, I've looked into this and liquid nails is not an epoxy, it is a polyurethane glue. However what I was originally trying to think of is actually silicone caulk. Caulk is somewhat easy to remove, I mean a razor blade will go right through it and then once you get a manageable piece to grab then the rest will peel off. A very easy way to remove epoxy - or super glue or duct tape or virtually any sealant really - is acetone. But regarding acetone and wood, from what I've looked up so far, it technically does not damage wood however it does raise the surface grain which may need sanded down. I'm just trying to think outside the box about this 😀 Like, there's got to be some kind of modern synthetic material that can be squeezed from a tube and it does the same job of sealing the gap as with melted wax!

[@felixer80]

What was the straw/spray can contraption you used? Thank you so much for sharing this knowledge so people can make music again!

[@TomsMusicShop]

Hey Felix, which part did you mean? Can you include a timestamp?

[@calebpettingill]

4:50 I think its just compressed air to blow away gunk

[@rappermusician]

Like the demo of your wax spoon - I think I should be able to make one of those - or something like for next time I need to wax in a reed or two

[@ryancarr28]

Nicely explained! Thanks for the video!

[@TomsMusicShop]

Glad it was helpful!

[@johnyashes]

Thank you Tom!

[@arkansasstone5331]

So, how do you figure out the order of your reeds? I opened one up because it was rattling, and there was about 10 reeds bouncing around

[@mohsensohrabi8079]

Hi.What is the wax spoon made of?

[@brittadangelo651]

Hello, I learned a lot from your video! I now know that I have to replace two reeds for the reason that my father (who I inherited my "steirische Harmonika" from) had replaced 2 "same tone" reeds with 2 2-tone (or bi tone reeds). Unfortunately I can't continue my music school lessons unless I put the original same tone reeds back in. My instrument looks a lot bigger and complicated though, so I think I would like to have this done professionally. In what state are you guys located? Or do you know anyone in the Savannah GA area who can do this for me?

[@mathismuller6033]

Im not from the states (Germany in fact). You probably sorted this out already, but according to Google there are no accordion repair shops in Savannah. Im sure there are some in the states though. But given that it is a „european“ instrument and that these are somewhat common in bavaria, austria and some of the east-european countries, you might want to look into sending it over to europe to have it maintained here. But that would probably be quite expensive. What Tom did in the video I actually did with glue. I would not advice that you actually do this, but I had bought an old Weltmeister accordion which had lots of loose reeds. I simply laid a glue „sausage“ around the loose reed on top of the remnants of the bees-wax, being careful not to actually get any on top of the reeds. It honestly worked quite well, I am not sure how well its going to hold up in the future though.

[@pereballesterserrano3164]

Hello Tom, first thank you very much for your videos they are very useful. One question, could you tell me what is the formula you use with the wax of the voices. What percentages of wax, rosin, etc. Thanks a lot

[@TomsMusicShop]

Hello Pere, it is the wax formula that you can buy at Hohner.

[@catharinadebeer3519]

I CANT FIND THE PAPER IN SOUTH AFRICA TO REPAIR THE RIBS OF MY ACCORDIAN. CAN I USE CHRISTMAS ROLLS PAPER?????

[@TomsMusicShop]

Haha, no. Try to order from Hohner in Germany if you can.

[@egarmo1]

Awesome!!! I have not yet dared waxing.... but.... would a hot screw driver // file blade help remove old wax...!!!. Or you just aim to remove a little so that the remain is still a base for the addition of wax???. You dont seem to care abour remains of old wax around..

[@TomsMusicShop]

I try to scrape it off cleanly with a screwdriver.

[@ninergoldrush2680]

excelent like always Toma thanks for all these videos

[@TomsMusicShop]

Thanks buddy!

[@seanryan1176]

Well done, I enjoyed your video. Is it possible to make a reed tester from a bellows or buy one, thank you, from Sean Ryan

[@TomsMusicShop]

Hi Sean, the bellows you see in the video is one I made from an old retired accordion. Just get some balsa wood, and cut it to cover both sides, and glue it on. Then, drill 2 holes for allowing the air to escape, and you have got a test bellows. Maybe I will make a short video on it.

[@ismetkarga4751]

What kind of wax you use for this? Is it really possible to use beeswax? Tnx.

[@TomsMusicShop]

It's a mixture of bees wax and something else. I bought it directly from Hohner. Cheers!

[@ismetkarga4751]

Thank you...I'll do the same

[@Kazimierz438]

I have a question. I have an accordion with a sixteenth note in the channel. The voices are clean, without corrosion, while the 16th note in the channel has corrosion. Is it possible to clean them and how could they be cleaned?

[@TomsMusicShop]

What do you mean with 16th note? You can scrape off the oxidation to an extent, or try a little rubbing alcohol. You may need to tune, though.

[@Kazimierz438]

@@TomsMusicShop There may be four, eight or sixteen in the channel. My age is sixteen.

[@Themonist]

Could this be done by reheating the wax a soldering iron?

[@TomsMusicShop]

Hard to imagine...

[@phillipmendez1743]

I do that different But I certainly enjoyed Watching you Tom .

[@TomsMusicShop]

Glad you enjoyed it, Phillip!

[@Ізгіниет]

Жақсы

[@seanoregan998]

Great work!

[@joelleguerette9485]

Hi ! What is the name of your special spoon ? Where we can found it ?

[@TomsMusicShop]

Hey I got mine from Hohner in Germany. It is pretty expensive though...

[@ChrisDragotta]

What kind of steel is used for the reeds? Where can I get my own material to cut my own reeds?

[@TomsMusicShop]

Oh boy I do not know that. Maybe contact Hohner directly? They might be able to give you more information. Cheers!

[@raccoon6072]

Looks like one can make it from a piece of thick aluminium sheet, e.g. from a beer can.

[@s.g.8140]

thank you for the video!!!

[@TomsMusicShop]

My pleasure!

[@frikici]

That spoon is not good you will ended with wax dripping all over place! And you will not get even flow of wax.