I guess those who know me have figured out by now that I like to invent stuff. Well, I've been at it again--here is a video of my latest brain child--and I'm feeling pretty proud of myself after working on this on and off for over two years. . .
Wow, that looks great! And the price seems fair for what it is, and the complexity of it. The UST I just got works great, and I'm really happy with it, but your machine still looks really tempting to me, and I'm already contemplating the investment. Anything that can speed up the process, and/or can make the embossing more precise, definately catches my interest. It's great that you decided to put this out on the market. This looks to be the most sophisticated harmonica tool to have been put on the market. I'd really love to try one.
Last Edited by on Jun 24, 2011 1:23 AM
Now that's impressive, really ingenious. I liked your presentation too as it demonstrates in a straightforward way the technique involved, for those who have never tried it and also for those who have mashed up a few harps. Btw are you able to plink and test with the reed plate still in the device? How many passes on a reed have you executed on average to get the desired embossing?
@Greyowlphotoart--Plinking is as problem while embossing because, in order to plink well, you need some air space behind the reed--and, in order to emboss well, you need to have the plate laying on a good, solid, flat surface. On the Bosser, you can reach in there and plink (if you raise the blade first), but it won't sound out very well.
In an earlier prototype I had a sliding section under the reeds--so that you could emboss--slide the section out of the way--then plink--this worked fairly well, but the blade had to be raised to get it out of the way, and I just decided it wasn't worth the trouble, because, on the Bosser, you just get down there with magnification and watch the slot close in a very precise way. while you turn the crank--then feel it with the little slot gauge. Plinking becomes a very small part of the process--you just don't end up having burrs that need it in the first place.
My general procedure, which was probably not real clear in this introductory video, is to emboss through one side of all the slots--pull the plate out and re-align the reeds carefully--then plink them--but this part normally only takes a couple of minutes. Then I turn the plate over and run through the other side--then align--then plink--then do the ends of the slots with the Buddha tool--align, then plink. This whole procedure is way faster and easier than it sounds--really amazing if you have done a few plates by hand and know what the traditional methods take.
The next steps for me would be to set the offsets and then gap the reeds--then tune--then set offsets and gap again. At that point, I would usually set the whole stack of parts aside for a week--then check offsets and gaps and tuning again--when its all as good as I can make it--I stick it back together and play the hell out of it.
How many passes it takes to complete the job depends on 3 things--1) how hard the pressure is set on the blade--2) how close you want to go--3) how bad the harp was in the first place. Some harps have a bigger gap on one side than the other--(keep in mind that I work pretty much on Hohners only). Big Rivers in particular are bad this way. So sometimes it might take 2 passes on one side and 3 on the other. You just have to look very closely and keep checking with the gauge. Usually I do two passes--but I don't like heavily embossed slots--they just get too twitchy when I cut loose and start to choke out.
When I first started using this thing, during testing, I was taking too many passes and I welded some of the slots closed! Of course I wasn't doing any good harps at that point.
@ianharpo--In the video I think I said that I had learned from Buddha to make the Buddha tool--that isn't quite accurate. When I studied with Buddha, he let me use his tools to make harps. This tool that I call the "Buddha tool" is just one that I copied from his tools.
It's just a simple little tool that really works great for ends of slots and little touch-ups back on the rivet end. ----------
Thanks for filling in the detail, I think you could be onto a winner here. One of the big attractions is you don't have to swivel the reed out of the way to emboss the rivet end, or run the risk of snagging the reed if you use an embossing tool.
I notice you mention embossing both sides of the reed plate, which I hadn't heard of before, but it kinda makes sense.
@greyowl - I think he means rotate the plate and emboss the other side of the slot.
Oldwailer, you say that after embossing the next steps are to 'set the offsets and then gap the reeds'. What do you mean by 'offsets'? Is that reed profiling?
@Greyowlphotoart--Embossing both sides of the reed plate, in my opinion, would serve no purpose--and would be really difficult to do without messing up the reeds and the plate--because the plate wouldn't be able to sit flat on the surface of the work space. What I meant to say was just what bluemoose said--just rotate the plate and do the other side of the slot.
@bluemooose--"gap" is just the distance the end of the reed sticks up above the plate at the free end of the reed--"offset" is how closely the reed fits to the plate at the rivet end. The best reference I've seen for these terms is to study Richard Sleigh's book; "How to Turbocharge Your Harmonica." This is a book you need, IMHO, if you want to do effective customizing on harps.
In my way of thinking about this, "gap" and "Offset" are both terms that are a part of reed profiling--but are not the whole of it. This is where some of the mysticism enters customizing--there are some really hooky spooky ideas about this--and I think it is the most important part of making a harp really great.
I have plans to go into some of this kind of stuff on my site in the future--but right now I just don't have the time to make all the videos I have in mind.
The Richard Sleigh book addresses profiling the reed--I don't think he actually uses that terminology for it but it has to do with the shape and curve (or not) of the reed, as well as flattening of the reed itself. . . ----------
Yes--that Italian one is exactly what I do to adjust the offset--the other one is dealing more with the curvature of the reed. This is all a part of profiling reeds. . . ----------
@nacoran--I had never heard of that--I believe that the process I usually do on the reeds does widen them some infinitesimal amount--but I don't have the skills to measure anything that small to prove it--I do know that it seems to improve the tightness of even a close embossing without being enough to cause the reed to stick--and I do the profiling after the embossing. . . ----------
Just an update, in case anybody was planning to see this machine at SPAH--I have had to cancel my trip to SPAH, so I won't be able to make it--some family problems have come up and I buggered my shoulder up and have to operate one-handed for another couple of weeks.
I am also re-vamping my ordering and pricing, so I may have another update in a day or two that might make it easier to get a Bosser. . . ----------
This is just what I'm hoping to happen more and more. As people become aware of the techniques used to make harps better, there will be more innovation in the community and people get more options on how to work with the harps more effectively. And the fact is that innovation feeds more innovations... :)
And another good thing is that as these new tools like the Bosser and UST come available for wider audience there will be more and more customizers around with good tools to achieve consistent results. At some point you could just order a set of tools, take a few lessons on the customizing (or by few books/DVD's) and you're setup for a new small business.
Everybody wins: -Harps will get better, which makes the manufacturers demand better quality on their products -Harp players can make some side-business with customization and/or improve their instruments and thus playing -Harp players can get cheaper custom harps as the competition grows -Pro-customizers will benefit from the growing innovations made on the field -Hobbyists (like me) will get more information and options to go deeper to the fields of harp tweaking and playing...
This is really great development - congrats Oldwailer! :)
so the italian one is pushing the curvature of the reed down into the slot a little... yet seems like top customers prefer a flat reed profile.
but also, on one of the vids on the draw scraper, the scraper was pulled down the top outside edge of the entire reed, and i have also seen that on customized harps, so that would also be reed profiling, or maybe reed shaping?
@apskarp--thanks for the comments--I never thought of all those reasons for doing it--I just wanted to make a tedious job easier ;-)
@Walterharp--I think you are referring to "chamfering," where the outside edge of the reed is tapered down--I think most customizers would recommend against it--but some like it. Rick Epping has posted some info about it here: https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dckkn2d6_32vjf4qr&hl=en
I can't say I've tried it--I just can't get behind the idea of removing so much brass and the tuning problems that it could cause--but it is purported to make a harp very sensitive--but maybe a little "shrill or brassy". . . ----------
oldwailer: You are a real inventor! You have my respect. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
OW, hey matey thats a lovely bit of precision engineering you have done there bloody accurate machining required i recon so well done. Speaking as a patented inventor myself i know how these projects can really take a hold on you in the design and development stages but now the REAL work begins, Please be carefull get yourself legal protection (in fact i hope you have done that prior to releasing your video!) you might find that doing some sort of licenceing deal with a bigger fish in the harmonica market could be the way foward, anyway good luck and well done again
Last Edited by on Jun 29, 2011 1:25 PM
Hey Ray, I take my hat off to you...that's a great idea and a great solution you've come up with. I agree with Geordie on this one...watch your ass.
I think one thing you could do is offer this to the major manufacturers. I could imagine a motorised version of your Bosser precision embossing hundreds of reedplates per hour.
Well done Ray and I hope that it's a success.
I like the website too. ---------- Oisin
Last Edited by on Jun 29, 2011 8:18 PM
Yeah, Geordie--you're right about that--the inventing and making of prototypes and testing is the fun part--I've been getting the "real work" part for about the last couple of weeks.
I would love to sell the idea to a "bigger fish"--but I wouldn't know how to get one of those on the line. I think the market for this is so vertical it wouldn't be very interesting to the big boys.
@Oisen--thanks! I can actually run this Bosser with an electric screwdriver, and I have done that--but I find it to be easier to control to use the crank--it can make some nasty grooves in the plate if I overrun the slot on the free end--and it can ding the reed if I overrun on the rivet end. I like to just watch the process happen kind of slowly, with full control.
It would be possible to imagine a CNC type of machine doing this operation and cranking out "hundreds of reed plates and hour," but Hohner or Seydel or Suzuki will have to develop that--and I don't think they care much about it.
Anyway, just like anything else--the idea is for sale for the right offer--come on, Mr. Hohner--come and make my day! ;-)
