DIY Network

Handmade Cajun Accordion, Pt. 4: Front Plate and Engraving A touch of gold gets added as the accordion's faceplate is given traditional engraving. From "Handmade Music" episode DHMM-310

The world was first introduced to Cajun music in 1964 at the Newport folk festival, but in Eunice, Louisiana, Marc Savoy had been around it all his life. In fact the instrument had been around that region for many generations.

Fortunately, still today, there are radio stations like KBON in Eunice where the music and the heritage are broadcast loud and clear. Cajun crusaders like Marc Savoy hope the younger generation understands the message old-timers bring in the form of Cajun music.

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The plywood front plate is stained and engraving cuts are made using a pantograph. Gold fill is added to the grooves to make the traditional engraving stand out. Here, during construction, the plate is held in a custom jig.

Accordion Front Plate: Engraving

The front plate of the accordion combines aesthetics and function. Its engraving is one of the most attractive parts of an accordion, but the holes on the face allow the valves and reeds to work together to create the fantastic Cajun sounds.

Materials:

maple plywood
walnut stock
pantograph engraver
drill
belt sander
gold filler
wood stain
glue
router

Steps:

• After drilling forty holes into the maple plywood and staining the surface Marc Savoy uses a pantograph to engrave his personalized design into the face plate and back plate (figures A and B).

• The freshly engraved grooves are painted gold. The paint is generously applied and quickly wiped away from the surface.

  Figure A

  Figure B

  
  

With the beauty previously addressed, it's time to create the beast. This "little box" called an accordion is capable of making monstrous sounds in the hands of an expert, and that's only possible when the air chambers of the faceplate are properly constructed.

The keyboard will attach to the faceplate and the bass box will attach to the back plate. In between the two (distributing the air power through the two plates) will be the bellows. Now the faceplate gets most of the attention from Marc because it also must double as the air regulator. Lifting stops on top of the accordion will move sliders up and down. That action channels air into different sets of reeds. To make that happen Marc creates gaps between the faceplate and the switching section.

Steps:

• Strips of maple are aligned down the backside of the faceplate to for chambers between the sections of holes.

• Maple "sliders" are sanded thin enough to fit between the two faceplate pieces. Holes drilled into the sliders will feed air to the reeds when the slider holes and the faceplate holes are aligned.

• The front plate and the back plate are framed with walnut stock and glued in place.

• The faceplate and back plate frames are routed along their edges for cosmetic effect. That effect is further enhanced with the addition of marquetry strips bordering each plate.

RESOURCES :

Savoy Music Center
Highway 190 E
Eunice, LA 70535
www.savoymusiccenter.com

KBON, FM 101.1
Eunice, LA 70535
www.kbon.com

GUESTS :

Marc Savoy, proprietor
Savoy Music Center
Highway 190 E
Eunice, LA 70535
www.savoymusiccenter.com