cleaning reeds

Hi all,

As you can see in the picture, some of the reeds are green. I like to clean them.

What to do?

How to take them out of the harmonium without breaking the screws?

Any ideas to make this project a success?

Kees

Local severe oxydation, the wood of the reed pan looking dark... seems like mice used this instrument as toilets !
The right thing to do to unscrew the reeds is to heat them first. But for this, you need a special tool, which is not easy to find.
It passes low-voltage high-amps current in the screw head, hence heating it.

I would really advise you to pay a visit to Louis Huivenaar in Dieren, for such matters. Not to be messed with, as it onvolves the reed pan (very difficult to repair afterward) !

Une forte oxydation localisée des anches, et des traces noires sur le bois du sommier, il semble que cet instrument ait servi de toilettes à des souris !
La bonne chose à faire est de chauffer les vis avant d'essayer de les dévisser. Pour cela, il faut un outil spécial, qui passe un courant à bas voltage et haut ampérage dans la tête de la vis. Celle-ci est alors rapidement et efficacement chauffée.

A votre place, j'irais rendre visite à Louis Huivenaar, à Dieren, pour ces choses là. Mieux vaut ne pas faire n'importe quoi, car cela implique le sommier, et les réparations sur le sommier sont toujours délicates et risquées.

thanks for the advice!

I succes to unscrew a few reeds by very careful "screw - unscrew - screw - etc" method. This worked too. The screwes were quite rusty. Maybe better to replace them by new ones I think.