McNeela Instruments is not just an traditional irish instruments but an entire Irish Music experience that supplies a whole list of music instruments you will recognise that are synonymous with traditional irish music or or trad music as it is known locally.

Tools:
*Craft knife * Key height gauge. (made from an ice-lolly stick) * Bending Tool (made from 6 mm. steel bar 150 mm. long * Tooth pick or similar for use as a glue stick * Fine nosed pliers * Screwdrivers for dismantling *Thin card as a spacing shim (a business card, for example)
Procedure:
1. Make the tools as follows:
a. The key height gauge is made out of an old ice-lolly stick or similar piece of wood. Measure the average key height above the action plate with the key both depressed and also released. To give the optimum 'voicing', the key vertical travel should be around 3.0 to 3.5 mm. Make the gauge by taking the average key depressed height and adding 3.0 mm. This is dimension 'X'. Shape one end of the wooden stick as shown.

Introduction:
You will find all of the basic Irish instruments such as Irish flutes, student violins, tin whistles, and concertinas for sale. When you have decided your what instrument you want to buy be left with the question, how long will it take for e to progress to a better or more suitable instrument.

Concertinas and Irish flutes are usually a very good investment, even the beginner concertinas for sale generally improve with age and the more they are used the more the reeds open up.

Repairing concertinas and accordions:

The Gauge Action Plate:
The pad arm-bending tool is used to adjust key height and pad to hole alignment. This is made by shaping the 6 mm. steel bar (or even a six inch nail) to form approximately 20 mm. of 'flat' at both sides of one end and by making two cut outs as shown. 'Y' is the width of the arm material, and 'Z' is the depth of the arm material.
Flats

Procedure:
1. Dismantle an end to reveal and provide access to the reed pan. 2 Prepare the first side of the reed pan for re-valving. The best procedure is to start on the chambered side of the reed pan first. This is because the chamber walls will protect the new valves from damage whilst the second side is being worked on. You have a choice: to remove all of the reed frames from the reed pan, or to work reed by reed. If you have a mini-vacuum cleaner of the type used to clean computer keyboards and camera bits, then you can get away by working one reed at a time. If not, then slide out each reed frame taking care not to damage the reed tongue. Lay the reeds out so you can confidently return them to the same place and side. The risk of damage in removal has to be balanced against the risk of debris fouling a reed. I prefer to leave the reeds in place, be careful, and clean out afterwards.

2. Remove the old pad, either leaving the leather arm end bead still attached to the action arm, or by ripping that off as well. This is a fairly brutal process that involves the use of pliers. I found it best to work on alternate pads at a time. Thus I was able to use the positioning of the adjacent pads to help with the centring and positioning of the new pads being fitted (relative to the adjacent pads). I also remove no more than three or four pads at a time. This reduces the numbers of keys and levers that are flopping about. I no longer try to preserve the arm end beads; it is not worth the effort to reclaim them.

3. Examine the pad hole and surrounding scribed circle, looking for cracking, splintering, etc.. If there is damage that will cause a potential airway or make the bedding of the pad difficult, then mix a minute quantity of plastic wood. Force the plastic wood into the area of damage and wipe off any excess. Immediately, before the plastic wood has started to harden, stick Sellotape over the hole and surrounding area and then press smooth. Once the plastic wood has fully cured, peel off the Sellotape and a smooth finish will be revealed. Lightly sand the area to clean the pad seat area and blend the repair. Ensure that the corner of the hole that the pad seats against i5 lightly sanded to remove any surplus plastic wood to form a clean arris or sharp edge between the hole and the pad seating face. With the craft knife or sharp point clean out the scribed groove round the pad hole.

Small piece of card or stiff paper, 6 mm. wide and 25 mm. long, to act as a spacing shim between valves and chamber sides. I have been told that some people use masking tape.

3. Pull off the valves from the wood taking care not to catch, loosen, or damage the valve pins that stick out from the chamber walls over the larger valves. Using the chisel and knife scrape off any old leather and glue remains from the wood. Work along the grain, do not dig in and do be sure that you leave the wood that the valve is to close against as smooth and fiat as possible.
4. To replace the valves, match the valves to the appropriate airway slots, try to ensure that you will get at least 2 mm. overlap at the narrower tip end, and that there is around 6 mm. at the outer wide end for glueing.

5. Fit the valves, one at a time, offering them into position with the taper towards the pan centre. The shiny side of the leather must be up and fleece side onto the wood. Trim the valve with scissors, but only if absolutely necessary. Ensure that it will not foul the chamber side or go near the adjacent reed. When happy with the position, mark the valve's outer end position on to the wood with a faint pencil line. Trimming can be used to ensure the valve does not catch on the chamber wall, and occasionally I find a valve that needs to rest on part of the reed frame, but the tongue must be clear. Trim as needed.
Glue Area
Leather Valve
Valve Pins Slot Under Valve Chamber walls
Reed Frame
Reed Tongue
6. Ease the valve towards the centre of the reed pan until the outer end of the airway slot can be seen.
7. Apply a dab of EVA glue to the wood next to the end of the slot and, using the tweezers and needle, ease the valve back 50 that the valve end lines up with the pencil line. Where necessary, use the card to slip between the leather and the chamber wall to ensure clearance. When satisfied press the valve end down into the glue. Note! Use a minimum of glue, and attempt to minimise whatever small amount of glue squeezes out: along the 'sides' of the airway slot; into the slot itself; and along the leather. The less glue used the better.
S. Repeat as necessary.

4. Using a small dab of I'VA glue, fix the reinforcing disc into the centre of the backing side of the pad. That is the card side, not the leather face of the pad. 5. If you are reclaiming the arm end beads, then using the pliers squeeze the leather bead to remove as much of the old glue and debris as possible. Use rough sand paper on the underside of the bead to preh r it for fixing to the new pad. Either re-fit the old bead, or screw a new one into place on the threaded end re the arm. 6. Slide the pad with its attached disc under the bead and centralise the pad over the hole and scribing Adjust the bead to rest as close to the centre of the disc as possible. Set the key to vertical and use the bending tool to bend the arm laterally and vertically to get the bead positioned correctly and to ensure that the key conforms to the height gauge with a new pad fitted. Gently depress the key and put a dab of EVA under the bead and ease the bead onto the pad without upsetting the pad or key
alignments.
WARNING: ALWAYS BEND THE ARM WITH THE KEY DEPRESSED, OTHERWISE THE KEY PEG WILL GET BROKEN OFF.

Adjustment should be made by bending the arm at the pad side of the pivot, and before the pad is glued.
7. Repeat the above actions for all the pads to be replaced. Where necessary, clip the sides of pads to ensure an adequate clearance between: the adjacent pads, the action plate, and action box side; but do not to encroach into the scribed circle around the pad hole. Significant pad trimming is usually not necessary if the correct sized pads have been ordered to start with. Sometimes, however, the pad board holes are very close together, if this is so it might be helpful to use a fine pencil to mark the pad board with a guide line that runs equidistant between the two holes, and clip the pads to suit. Another tip is to use a piece of thin card as a temporary spacer between pads, to make sure that there is enough clearance
8. Re-fit the action into the concertina end. Double-check that key heights are even, adjusting if necessary. Check also that the pads and corresponding holes are concentric.

Of course it depends on your will to learn but also be assured to know that you normally should be able to sell it on and get a large proportion of your money back and we also do trade in's when you want to upgrade to a more advanced instrument.

9. If the 3 mm. key travel causes the key pegs to lift out of the peg holes, then reduce the 3 mm. by 0.25 mm., and if necessary re-set all the keys to be of a consistent height.
10. If the keys, on being pressed, go too far into the action box cover, and do not stand at lean, slightly proud of the surface, then the number of felt circle dampers may need increasing by one: norrrolly two is sufficient, but I have seen as many as four fitted. Ensure that the full 3 mm. of key travel is otH available without the risk of the key peg coming out of its hole.

11. Leave the assembly at least a week or more before expecting the beading process to sty,. to form effective seals.
Sizes:
3/8 1/2 9/16 5/8 11/16 . ins. 0475 0500 0563 0.625 0688 11. 12 13 14.5 16 17.5 _
Replacing Pads and Setting Key Height/Travel
Concertina Winter

Missing or lost valve pins can be made by using the pointed end from a sewing type pin (not a needle): cut 't to length using the side cutters on a pair of pliers. Be careful because they can fly out and eyes are at risk NOTE: Re-valving can have a minute effect on the tuning of the concertina as the chamber air volumes at be affected. However this should not be sufficient to upset most players, despite what the profess. 10114 would have us believe! If you are to re-tune your instrument then do re-valve first.
Wheatstone Valve reference numbers:
No. Ref: Length (mm.) Comment 6 16 - 5 19 -4 23 -3 25 -2 29 -1 34 Narrow: 7 mm. Wide: 9 mm.
5.2 Replacing Pads and Setting Key Height/Travel

The Fads are the 'stoppers' that are moved by the action to allow air to pass through to the chamber and hence reed assemblies. With age they can become hard and the seal may be lost. A symptom is a reed permanently sounding (possibly faintly) in the background. The condition is then ascertained by inspection. Fad leakage will also result in bellows 'creep'. Another common problem is that the padding that supports the soft leather sealing face gets hard and thin. When the key is depressed then allowed to spring back, the pad 'clicks' loudly.
Remember that pads bed themselves into place. Any disturbance will threaten the air seal by moving the impressed shape that the pad has formed with respect to its hole. Before moving into a full re-padding or even a single pad replacement, do check that no foreign bodies are trapped between pad board and pad that is preventing a seal being achieved, and that the problem is not a weak or damaged spring.
The key height is set as a by-product of the pad replacement process. The travel of the key will contribute to the feel of the instrument's speed.