Re: [Harp-L] Replaceable Reeds



Using a 0-80 x 1/8 round-head Phillips screws in the tapped plate works well. The danger of stripping the brass threads in the plate is slight.  Do you worry about stripping the plate-screw threads?  You will remove the plates many more times than any single reed.

I "cheat" and tap the rivet hole 0-80 without enlarging. (In steel or a deeper hole, it would break the tap) 
I enlarge the hole in the reed  (#53, .055") so that the screw threads do NOT control the position of the reed. The holes in the reed and plate can be out of position enough to keep the reed from aligning perfectly in the slot.     

I use .001" mylar shims (in lieu of Joe's cigarette paper) to align the reed in the slot while I tighten the screw. 

An optional, lightly-oiled #0 washer minimizes the twisting torque exerted on the reed as you tighten the screw.

After tuning and gapping, an optional, tiny drop of super glue on the screw head, reed base and plate will keep everything very secure. A dusting of baking soda makes super glue set up in seconds.

I use an abrasive wheel on a Dremel tool to  grind off the excess screw length protruding from the other side of the plate. This leaves a flat surface for attachment of the valve. In diatonics, this may not be necessary.
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On chromatics, the head of a screw installed from the back side interferes with the valve.  Farrell used flat-head screws and countersunk the heads.  I prefer to avoid the nuts and the countersinking operation.  You can argue that the amount of fiddling around is not greatly different.  It's a matter of personal preference.

Vern

On Oct 21, 2010, at 8:28 PM, Rick Dempster wrote:

> Why wouldn't they have just tapped the reed plate? (which is what i do
> for reed replacement. A lot easier than fiddling around with a nut. Any
> practical reason, apart, perhaps from reducing labour?
> RD
> 
>>>> Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx> 22/10/2010 13:51 >>>
> Farrell had Hohner Toots Hard Boppers with 00-90 screw posts instaljed
> in the reedplates where the rivets had been. This allowed the user to
> replace a reed by unscrewing a nut, popping the replacement reed on the
> screw post (though the holes in the reed pad needed to be enlarged a bit
> with a rat tail file), and tightening the nut again. You had to do a bit
> of centering of the reed, and gapping and fine tuning are pretty much
> always required, but the actual reed replacement was pretty quick.
> Winslow
> 
> Winslow Yerxa






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