Vaclavh
12 posts
Jan 01, 2025
1:02 PM
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Hello great masters of magic customized harps, much more experienced than me. Please tell me, how much do you care about the rivet end being exactly centered?
I see (using microscope) like three rivet ends worth re-centering per plate for good Hohners (SP20 and better) and I take great care to fix these. But maybe leaving it off-center (as long as it plays, and reeds in SP20 and better usually do) and just embossing around is maybe equally good? What is your experience?
I am just inventing new and new tools to center the rivet end, not really liking any so far...
(To make it clear: No, I do not mean rotating the reed around the rivet to center the far end. I mean a lateral shift just at the rivet place, using precisely delivered hammer force or some similar technique.)
Last Edited by Vaclavh on Jan 01, 2025 1:15 PM
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Vaclavh
13 posts
Jan 05, 2025
12:19 PM
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Hmm, maybe I am the only one who cares. Anyway, in case you try this, too, I can recommend an ordinary 6mm classical screw as an impact tool, the head with a screwdriver slot is by far the best impact tool to safely hit the rivet from a side. In fact this tool makes river-side centering quite a nice activity so I do not need an answer for my previous question anymore :)
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SuperBee
7133 posts
Jan 15, 2025
3:38 AM
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Always better to centre them imho. Interested in how you are doing it. I’ve seen a few different methods. Best one for me usually involves reinstalling the reed with a fresh rivet.
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florida-trader
1590 posts
Jan 16, 2025
2:18 AM
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You can use a flat screwdriver to tap the reed over in direction you want it to go. Once you move the reed, you need to tap the riviet a couple of times to make sure it is tight. In severe cases, it might be better to remove the reed and attach it with a screw.
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Tom Halchak
Blue Moon Harmonicas
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Vaclavh
15 posts
Jan 17, 2025
9:23 AM
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Thanks SuperBee and florida-trader. I've put images of my rivet centering tools here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZTYuU7dnDrBgZ57x9
This is the impact tool I ended up with after various experiments:
I put one end on the rivet and tap the other side with a small hammer:
I even tried this lever-based machanism instead of the hammer - it works but the hammer tap feels safer so I do not use this heavy-lever method:
Do you manage to move the reeds themselves florida-trader? I tried but targeting the rivet works better for me. (Then I use nice flat pliers to re-tighten the rivet.)
My first method was to impact rivets at 45deg angle, this would likely work well should the impact tool have a nice small hole on the tip to fit on the rivet head - but I was unable to buy or make such a tool.
Then I tried horizontal strike on the rivet, just against the inertia of the plate itself, using thick aluminium alloy sheet with a hole for the rivet to transfer the impact - it worked better.
The screw impact tool on the first picture is my best way so far.
And for comparison, this is the Andrew Zajac's method which looked too complicated to me.
Last Edited by Vaclavh on Jan 18, 2025 11:23 AM
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