Re: Maintenance Question

[wmharps@xxxxxxxxx]

Jim asks:
> Just curious, in regards to how many on the list
> do serious repair work on their own harps. I'm
> not talking about installing a replacement reed
> set. I'm talking about replacing an individual
> reed if it goes bad.
> 
> I had just started attempting this prior to my
> hiatus and was wondering if purchasing rivet
> knockout and setting tools were a worthwhile
> purchase. Or if most folks who had tried this
> depth of repair were mostly unsuccessful with
> their attempts.

I do a lot of this kind of stuff, and I took the advice of the esteemed Pat 
Missin and do this work without specific reed knockout and setting tools.  I 
went to Home Depot and bought a couple of very small pin punches, and I took 
one of them to my bench grinder and made it small enough to knock the rivet out 
of a reedplate.  I support the reedplate with an old metal Meisterklasse comb.  
When I'm putting in a new reed I support the plate on a miniature jewelers 
anvil, and tap it with a tack hammer.  My total investment in tools is about 
$20.  

I recently did a personal harp repair and maintenance class for a friend and 
after watching and then attempting his own reed replacements he decided it 
wasn't worth the time and effort, versus spending $15 on a new harp.  Depending 
on how much you pay for your harps and how you value your time, you may agree 
or disagree.  I will say that it is far more practical to do if you have a 
stockpile of old reedplates from which to harvest replacement reeds.  

The very first reed I replaced was on a pre-WWII Marine Band, and I've had 
great success with my attempts, both on my own harps and on harps I've done for 
others.  I once tried replacing all the reeds in a set of old handmade 
Meisterklasse plates to make a key that is pretty hard to find.  The attempt 
wasn't very good, as it's a bit leaky, but I think if I had the time I could 
fix it up nicely.  Doing this for one or two reeds is feasible, for 20 it's 
kind of hard to justify the time.

- -tim