MrVerylongusername
858 posts
Jan 29, 2010
3:35 PM
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I was inspired to experiment with reed replacement by Kingley's recent thread, so I looked into what tools I'd need. There's the stuff in the Hering kit, but that's £40 from Thomann and I don't need 3/4 of it. There's also the Seydel rivet punch, but that's the same price as the whole Hering kit. So true to the DIY philosophy of this forum I made my own - for less than £2 in fact!
I started off with an eyelet plier kit that I bought at Wilkinson's for £1.19 - this kind of thing...
I've seen them in Poundland too. Now normally I don't like cheap tools, but the cheapness of this set was the key, because it was easy to file down the soft metal. Initially I tried to file it into the size of spike I needed, but after a few punches the spike bent.
Plan B: I filed the spike completely down and drilled a hole through from the other side with a 1.8mm bit. I used one of the screws I bought to fasten the coverplates on a self-custom, poked it through...
(Sorry this one's a bit blurred)
and fastened it firmly in place with the nut. Then it was just a case of filing the screw to a point.
Works like a charm - just pushes the rivet far enough to pull it out with pliers, so you can reuse the rivet. Oh and no, it doesn't bend or mark the reedplate at all. The finished product...
Last Edited by on Jan 29, 2010 3:42 PM
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nacoran
925 posts
Jan 29, 2010
3:41 PM
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Pictures 2-4 aren't displaying right. Pretty cool from the description.
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tookatooka
1100 posts
Jan 29, 2010
3:42 PM
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MVLUN great idea. Don't you just love those poundland shops? There's a lot of tat but with a little bit of ingenuity.......
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MrVerylongusername
859 posts
Jan 29, 2010
3:43 PM
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Yeah - I just fixed the links. sorry!
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MrVerylongusername
860 posts
Jan 29, 2010
3:44 PM
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Thanks Tooka. Every Christmas me and my mates do a pound present lucky dip, you'll be amazed at some of the crazy stuff we get!
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tookatooka
1102 posts
Jan 29, 2010
3:51 PM
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I got an A4 sized fresnel lens. It's fantastic but I haven't a clue what to do with it yet.
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MrVerylongusername
861 posts
Jan 29, 2010
3:57 PM
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Just one refinement I'm considering. As I said it doesn't mark or distort the reedplate at all, but I'm wondering about glueing a small felt pad to the side opposite the spike.
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nacoran
928 posts
Jan 29, 2010
3:59 PM
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Very cool.
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Kingley
751 posts
Jan 29, 2010
11:37 PM
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MrV, Great idea! I'm going to make one of those for certain. Thank you for posting it and sharing your great idea with us.
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Ryan
92 posts
Jan 30, 2010
1:04 AM
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Mr.V you're a regular Macgyver, nice work. I think I may also give this a try. I wonder where the best place around here to get one of those eyelet plier things is, I'm sure I can probably find one at a craft shop. Hopefully they'll be cheap like the one you got. Thanks for posting this, you may have saved me a good amount of money with your cleverness.
Last Edited by on Jan 30, 2010 1:05 AM
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MrVerylongusername
863 posts
Jan 30, 2010
3:44 AM
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Another thing I want to add, when you're filing the screw end to a point, have a knackered reedplate on hand to test it on, you need to get the right 'pointiness' so as to push the rivet out , but not damage the rivet hole - not difficult, but I'd hate for you to ruin your favourite harp because I forgot to mention it.
Last Edited by on Jan 30, 2010 6:00 AM
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MrVerylongusername
864 posts
Jan 30, 2010
6:00 AM
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OK, a few design refinements today. To make sure there's no pressure on the reed itself I've added felt pads. I bought a pack for 50p from Tescos Home. There's enough for this project and for my chairs and table in the dining room and a some spares leftover!
I used the smaller pads (15mm diameter), and cut a hole in the centre (about 10mm diameter) making a washer shape (I guess rubber washers from the plumbing section could work too). It took three to completely cover the part of the press opposite the spike.
Then I capped this off with a fourth pad with no hole in the centre.
Finally I cut a 5th pad into 3 sections, like so...
Discarding the middle piece, I stuck the remaining two slices to the stack of pads, to create a groove to protect the reed.
Job done!
Total cost so far £1.69!
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GermanHarpist
1059 posts
Jan 30, 2010
6:06 AM
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Very cool stuff. I thought of buying a deriviter for 60€ (but then always went for an harp instead). I'll have a go at this self made version first now... :) Thanks!
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germanharpist on YT. =;-) - Resonance is KEY!
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congaron
486 posts
Jan 30, 2010
6:56 AM
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Stuff like this is my favorite part of any forum...when people begin to think outside the box and invent/modify things for a fraction of the commercial cost. Well done.
Last Edited by on Jan 30, 2010 9:03 AM
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wheezer
142 posts
Jan 30, 2010
8:38 AM
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That is ingeneous. I always use a hammer and punch but I've just got to make one of these!
Thanks for posting!!
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isaacullah
638 posts
Jan 30, 2010
7:37 PM
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Kingley, this is EXACTLY the tool I modified when I made my own. The only differences are that I filed the original nipple down to a point (no screw) and that instead of the felt pads, I actually filed a reed sized groove in the bottom part. Mine was equally cheap. The eyelet pliers I got were about $3 from Harbor Freight.
I'll post some pics tomorrow.
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
Last Edited by on Jan 30, 2010 7:38 PM
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Kingley
765 posts
Jan 31, 2010
2:45 AM
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It certainly is a cool idea. It got me too thinking about adapting a spare pair of pliers I have laying around.
My friend is going to get them drilled out for me as I don't have a bench drill. Then hopefully my plan will work. If not then I'm going to copy MrV and Isaacullah and make some from those eyelet pliers.
You gotta love the ingenuity on this forum!
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sorin
132 posts
Jan 31, 2010
8:38 AM
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Kingley , that would work , you might need some pliers that have some smooth flat surface ,I made one some months ago ,it looks like shit ( was meant as a prototype) but works like a charm .
Last Edited by on Jan 31, 2010 8:41 AM
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sorin
133 posts
Jan 31, 2010
8:42 AM
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MrVLUN great job man.
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Kingley
768 posts
Jan 31, 2010
10:25 AM
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Sorin, those look great!
That's exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of.
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nacoran
947 posts
Jan 31, 2010
11:45 AM
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So when are you guys putting these things into mass production?
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GermanHarpist
1618 posts
Jul 04, 2010
8:38 AM
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Bumping cos it's awesome... :)
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sorin
185 posts
Jul 04, 2010
10:28 AM
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German thanks for the bump , man . I was looking for this thread for 1 hour, yesterday, but couldn't find it , the google search didn't come up with anything .
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