Re: [Harp-L] Hohner combs, not always cut from a single piece of wood?

[Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Jun 10, 2014, at 6:23 PM, Robert Hale wrote:

> I am restoring another Chromonica 260/40.

Waste of time. 12 holes is the minimum practical size. 

> Took a few preliminary puffs on
> it and discovered 2 locations where air leaked thru to another chamber.
> Sure enough, the comb was cracked in those two places, and they
> corresponded to a color change in the wood.

Not a crack. A split. 

> There were no other signs of
> water torture and warping.
> 
> Does pear wood have naturally occurring light and dark sections?

No.

> or was
> this comb cut from laminated wood?

Not laminated (in carpentry terms)..pieced. Same as they do with shelving now. 

> Either way, it's clearly a weak spot.
>> From front to back, between holes 2 and 3, and right thru the middle of
> hole 10.
> 
> Upon removing the shiny faux finish (back and ends), I see that the grain
> pattern is not the same direction across either break.

Right, it's usually opposite. 

> So it WAS cut from a
> laminated hunk! Does this represent a developmental stage for Hohner
> production, and was since corrected?

It was never corrected as long as wood was used. Like in 270s. The 280s are now on plastic. Which mitigates the problem. The general feeling was that piecing the wood with alternating directions to the grain would make it more stable (again...like shelving) and the pieces would work against each OTHER to keep the comb straighter. I have had 280s in the old days with as many as 4 different pieces. This was something one acquiesced to in order to play chromatic. Of course at the time there were NO other brands available. I had the suspicion (at one time) that the wood used in the combs was getting harder to get in clear millable blanks and that knots, splits, burl, and other deleterious defects were necessitating the smaller and smaller section sizes. Ergo? multiple pieces. 
> 
> I certainly would want to know if the wood body chromatic I was buying was
> one solid piece, or laminated in its weakest direction!

The reason combs are milled WITH the grain is that to mill them ACROSS the grain would require many many more changings of the end mills and the constant sharpening would add cost and run the mills under spec. more often..and increase cost. 
> 
> Robert Hale
> Spiral Advocate (Fanatic!)
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