[Harp-L] Why do they still rivet reeds?

[Richard Sleigh]

Hi Ronnie,

Putting reeds in with screws actually adds a lot more steps than just tapping reed plates. Screws require clearance holes in the rivet pad that which complicates centering reeds. You would need a huge market to justify creating the kind of machines that could automate that process. It is unlikely to happen given that high end harmonicas are a small slice of the market. 

Richard Sleigh
PO Box 23
Boalsburg PA 16827

rrsleigh at xxxxx
http://hotrodharmonicas.com
http://rsleigh.com

Message: 5
Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2016 11:41:10 -0400
From: Ronnie Schreiber <autothreads at xxxxx>
To: harp-l at xxxxx
Subject: [Harp-L] Why do they still rivet reeds?
Message-ID: <f5f11539-a077-5531-b471-3f6b511fa53f at xxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed

I know that the harmonica industry is very traditional and a bit 
resistant to change but I'm surprised that someone hasn't started making 
higher end reedplates that use screws to fasten the reeds, not rivets, 
particularly since some companies, like Seydel, already sell kits for 
switching from rivets to screws. Sure, riveting has maybe one step less, 
you don't have to tap threads in the hole in the reedplate, but that all 
would be done in a mechanized, automated process.