Restoration of KOCH "BUGLE BAND GRAND CONCERT HARP" c.a. 1914. 2 x 40 dbl side 80 reeds. Brass plates. Steel covers. 8 1/2 inches. |
As it arrived. A few dings and a lot of rust. With two hole separators chipped out
and missing. |
As it is now, fully working, with a nice mellow tone. Separators repaired, derusted,cleaned,stained,polished
and lacquered. |
A little rust to get rid of!, but all reeds in good order. 3 pins broke on removal
(rust) and replaced. |
Covers after derusting and lacquering and removing of dings The cutouts were an advertised
feature of Koch, to prevent plates bending |
Below, the two missing separators are trimmed to receive the new pieces. |
Above: New pieces removed from scrap hohner chromatic and trimmed to fit. Wood glue not strong enough for small pieces so "Super" glue used. |
The new separators in place after staining and lacquering. A liitle darker than originals
but not easy to spot |
Stripped ready to be cleaned and repaired. Notice the two pieces at the bottom of
the photo, these are wax fillings, fitted, I think, at manufacture to seal the inner plate edges. When reassembled, I did notice tiny gaps, so resealed with wax between plates, both sides. |
Plates cleaned and lacquered ready to be refitted |
Covers ready to be refitted after cleaning and lacquering. |
Comb after fitting the new separators and staining/polishing. Whole job took about 4 hours to do. |