Re: [Harp-L] Embossing and customizing

[Jerry Deall <jdeall@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Great ideas. 
I use two slide viewers, a small one I can put the reed plate on to work on it, a viewer w/ a magnifier I slip the plate into. The second one has a built in back light and magnifier and only lights up when you hold the button. 

Thanks Jerry, 
http://www.thebluesambassadors.com/ 
http://www.myspace.com/bluesambasador 
http://www.myspace.com/harpmic_man 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: captron100@xxxxxxx 
To: Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 9:21:48 AM GMT -07:00 US/Canada Mountain 
Subject: [Harp-L] Embossing and customizing 



Mike Fugazzi wrote: 
I *think* I am getting results,...... but can't visibly see them. 


Mike, with a good light source and magnification, you should be able to easily see the difference. Here's a post of mine from a couple of years ago which i saved. Hope it appears ok on harp-L, without the additional characters, question marks, etc. that my server often automatically inserts when i post. 

A few years ago, customizer Joe Spiers posted on harp-L re how to make an embossing work station. I've 
created my own simplified version which has greatly enabled my embossing efforts. For my embossing tool, 
i use a small 1/4 inch drive extension with a small socket (i use a 5/16 inch socket), but Joe suggested 
the ball tip of a car antenna as an alternative. Another good tool is said to be the ball end of a tuning 
fork. 
My embossing station is simply a small cardboard box(Shure microphone box, actually), in which i have 
cut with a razor knife a small opening about an inch square in the flat bottom of the box. 
For a light source, I use a small night light on an extension cord. I lay the night lite face up on a 
hard surfaced kitchen table, then overturn the cardboard box on top of it so the small square opening is 
face up. Once I place a reedplate, rivet side up, over the square opening in the box, I get a great view 
of the tolerances between reed and reed slot (strong reading glasses and magnifying glasses help a 
lot too). I bought a great light with a magnifying glass built into it, from Micro-Mark. 
I take ONE run at a time with the socket tool, from about the center of the reed towards its free end, 
then plink with my thinnest feeler gauge (.002"), then view thru the results with the embossing station 
light. The plinking will audibly reveal and metal to metal contact and will knock off the burrs that will 
occur during the embossing process. 
I also play the reed by putting the slot up to my mouth and inhaling, a trick i first learned from Rupert 
Oysler's DVD called Harmonica Maintenance and Repair. The closing of the tolerances between the reed and 
sides of the slot will often reveals a reed that is not centered in it's slot. At this point, i take my 
reed wrench which i bought from the late Bill Rommel, and I center the reed in it's slot. Then i observe 
the tolerances again and take ONE more swipe with my socket tool, before plinking and observing again. 
Doing one swipe at a time saves a huge amount of hassle trying to free an over-embossed slot. The 
reason I only emboss half the length of the slot with the socket tool is because embossing the slot with 
this tool near the root will mash the rivet down and ruin your gap. 
For reducing the rest of the tolerances toward the root end of the slots, I have used another trick 
from Rupert Oysler's Harp Repair and Maintenance CD/DVD -- I take a glass cutter and VERY CAREFULLY 
score along the sides of the slot towards the reed's root, while holding a feeler gauge along the length of 
the reed to act as a guide for the cutter blade. There's gotta be a better way, because this is 
tedious work and it's all too easy to slip with the glass cutter and ruin the reed. When i finish a 
careful embossing like this, my harps play a lot tighter and more responsively. 
ron 



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