Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Theft device shims (was Reed Slot Tolerance)

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

Thanks!
 
Now this interchange is going into my: 'printed up to be studied' folder,  
to use when I work on my own chroms.  I knew some but not quite all of  it.
 
Ta much, Michelle & Smokey :):
 
Elizabeth
 
PS...would only add that anyone who's interested should sign up for Richard 
 Sleigh's site. He's such a cool customizer/player/harmonica enthusiast and 
 doesn't hit you over the head with emails. A very classy guy with lots of 
great  information.
 
"Message: 2
Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 13:51:12 -0500
From: joe leone  <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Theft device shims (was Reed  Slot Tolerance)
To: Michelle LeFree  <mlefree@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Harp L Harp L  <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>

On Dec 4, 2009, at 2:24 AM, Michelle LeFree  wrote:
>
> If, Joe, by "vaulted" you mean that they have a convex  curvature  
> across their width, that's an important feature of  these shims that  
> makes them especially useful in my  estimation.

Yes it sure does. The curved shims can be removed easily but  the flat  
one is hard to free from the gummy matrix it sits  in.

> I actually find the vaulted shims more useful than the flat  ones. I  
> prefer to use a ~good~ reed wrench such as the ones in  Richard  
> Sleigh's toolkit to center errant reeds.

Yes,  Richard de los Sleigh has a nice assortment of tools. The only  
reason  I use the stuff I do is because I have had it since childhood.   
Grandfathers pass away, I get tools. Fathers & fathers in law pass   
away, I get tools.
>
> The curvature in the cross-section of  these theft device shims is  
> what lends them the ability to shave  brass off of reeds and  
> combplate slots.

Ok, see here's the  deal. There was a time when the 'they that say'  
kept everything to  themselves because they had a rice bowl to  
protect. Bill Price, Vern,  the late great Tate, myself, and several  
others, stopped this process  by sharing. It was a secret that the  
EDGES of the curved shims were  useful in shaving gunk (and even  
minute amounts of brass) from both  the slot sides and reed sides. If  
you use them over clean white paper,  with a little magnification (for  
us old people), you can see the  debris hit the paper.

When I need to adjust the fit on a tight reed, I  like to work the  
slot instead of the reed. The sides of the slots  aren't perfect  
anyway because they have been punched. The reeds are  usually shaper  
edged. You want sharp edges. In fact, as a punch goes  into the brass,  
think of it punching through cheese. After a time, the  entry will  
start to round off and the exit will have a sharp burr. I  always  
believed the the exit was unimportant but the entry should be  slurry  
honed to produce a sharp edge to the slots. A few microns is  all  
that's necessary.

In cases of chromos, because the reeds  are placed on both sides of  
the plate, the top should be slurry honed  and the bottoms should be  
stropped.

> Richard Slight  demonstrates in his book how he uses narrow pieces  
> of the shim  stock that is included in his toolkits as Elizabeth  
> suggests, to  adjust reed profiles. You can count me amongst the  
> folks who also  use the theft device shims to remove not only burrs  
> as Robert  describes, but also to remove some chamfered or embossed  
> material  if I've over-done it a bit and the reeds stick after  
> running a  socket along a reed slot in the embossing process (see  
> Buddha's  Youtube video for a fine explanation of how to use a  
> socket tool  to emboss reeds).

Yes, embossing is good as long as the round object used  is at least  
12 times the diameter of the slot width. If the embossing  tool is too  
thin, it will furrow too deeply into the plate and  actually  
exascerbate the rounding off of the slot shoulders. Then the  reed has  
to swing deeper and I think volume is lost.

> To  trim brass off the reedslot, the convex side of the shim has to  
>  face the reedplate and vice-versa to remove material from the reed   
> itself. As Smokey says, the "vaulted" or curved cross-section of   
> the shim causes it to be springy, giving some level of self- 
>  adjustment in the amount of pressure it !
> can apply against the reed and  plate. But which surface it will  
> remove brass from is given by  which side the convexity faces.

Exactly. This is because the edges of the  foil strip are sharp and  
the metal, while thin, IS harder than the  brass. You get the same  
effect with a cabinet scraper. All they are is  a piece of hard steel  
with a 90 degree angle bent into them. This  gives an edge that you  
can burnish and actually make the edge 'hook'.  The drawing this hook  
across the wood will shave off minute amounts of  wood. The edges of  
the shims do the same thing. They are actually  cabinet scrapers in  
miniature.
>
> One thing is for sure,  they will shave brass off the reed or plate.  
> You can see  microscopic curls or shards of brass fall away as the  
> shim is run  through the slot. If there is a particularly narrow  
> region  between the reed and the edge of the slot, I run a shim  
> through  it several times. I prefer not to remove material from the  
> reed  as I don't want the action to impact its pitch, so I always  
>  ensure that the convex side of the shim is against the slot edge.

Me too  unless their is a tight spot up by the rivet end. It's really  
hard to  shave the slot up there, soooo I sometimes shave the reed. If  
anything  the pitch would go down, so it's easy enough to raise it  
with one of  my popsicle stick slips. Sometimes when I have a tight  
slot, I take a  small slip of 600 auto body paper, insert it in the  
slot, and then  with a little pressure on the reed, I drag the sliver  
up out of the  slot.
>
> All these may be subtle points but prior to Smokey's  reference I'd  
> never seen the curved cross-section of these super  handy little  
> shims mentioned.

It was pretty common  knowledge among some of us. 6 or 7 of us would  
meet at Jerry Murad's  house when he lived in Youngstown. I would get  
there at 5 and we would  work on harmonicas and talk harmonicas. We  
exchanged ideas. (In fact  Blackie and I also exchanged ideas with  
Rich Farrell). Alyce would  make me soup...and sometimes a sandwich.

Anyway, at 7 the rest of the  guys would show up and we would spend 3  
1/2 hours playing ensemble  arrangements. Then at 11, we would go to  
Perkin's for late breakfast.  I really REALLY miss those days. GOD do  
I miss them.
>
>  Michelle"