Hello all.

Over the past few years, none other then yours truly, has been the incontested voice and "Champion of Mittered corners" proper, the "dispenser of 45 years of aquired woodworking knowledge",in the "CORRECT"and traditionnal wooden construction techniques of Cajun accordions building.

You all know me, Oh God, that's him again, you know, the "Pea Soup" from Canada, the "Royal" pain in the "derriere", the Know it all.

Not that I have not found any detractors, off course they are legion , but even amid the dissenters,there's always been,shall I say a feeling that "The guy" from the Great White North, is "right", and that the sense of pride, and knowledge that he's been trying to instill in "ALL" the Builders, seems to somewhat to be paying off.
For once, I don't feel ignored, and proudly so, and I hope the the sudden profusion of well made accordions has been, albeith indirectly the product of my diligent efforts.

So it's with unashamed pride that I declare the next month ", well, why not make it the year!!!!, MITTERED CORNERS YEAR" on this forum ., and invite all the listees owning a said accordion to post a picture of their favorite mittered box .

C'mon lets celebrate, and in so doing we will join an elite of craftsmanship never equalled before in this country.

Long live Folk Traditions .


And lastly, but not least, I fervently hope that the 3 biggies of Cajun accordion builders Shame will see the "Light" and join an ever diminishing list of devoted American Craftsmans (w).

C.

Hi Claude,

I am not one of your detractors, because I do not have any expertise in this area.

I happen to have an accordion that has mitered corners, but posting a picture would be to little avail as you cannot detect the mitered corners very easily at all. The main reason for this is that the accordion is painted black, and the paint totally obscures this construction detail. I had to peer at it very intently to be able to tell.

The accordion is my good old Master in Bb. This is the one that I gig with, and it is well traveled at this point.

-David

p.s., I still chuckle every time I think about Dwight's joke about "this miter might not be cause for re-butt-all".

David,

Mr. Charlie Ortego, souped up one of my Cajun, imitation boxes, and talking to him, he told me that he did all his mitters, using a table saw.

One of the reasons you can hardly see them on your box, conld be ,that Charlie used a heavy finish on it, contrary to what finish product the German box fabricators used on the T'Noirs for instance.

Too bad he left us.

Speaking of Dwight, and it's fair in his absence to speak of him in the 3d person , I last "spoke" to him Last year, during a time when he and Bruce Fraser were "attempting" to built a Cajun accordion.

I haven't heard from him since and although it's not quite correct to assume , , I have to think that they, out of spite, build a box without mitters .

But, contrary to you I find his attempts at "Bon Mots",rather crude, inept and facile, especially if I'm their recipient .

Salut,

Claude.

I have a few pictures to post of the first accordion that I am hoping to have finished after the new year. Not sure how to post them though ?

So once again
The miter thing
Is going round and round

It's not the joints
That worry me
It's more about how I sound

Two camps have formed
There's 'Us' and 'Them'
Each writing to the Board

But it won't end
Fellow Braves I fear
There is no final word

But one things sure
He's outnumbered so..........
The 'Them' is miterier than the Claude

I didn't realize that New zealanders have a good sense of humour .

I love your prose.

At least John, you didn't hide behind a speudonym of sort, you added your email adress, unlike "Doc Marc" a tread bellow.

I'm big enough to take critism from whomever, but I dislike someone doing it under the cover of anonimity.

Claude

Hey, I'm not infaillible.

My apologies to the Newbie on this forum "Doc Marc" who did in fact add ,his e-mail adress.
But, I certainly was not abusive, just "Factual", and I don't know if youv'e noticed, but when Mr.Larry Miller used this board for his shameless business "plug", using his retirement as a ruse, he didn't bother to reply to my email to him.

Mr. Larry Miller I regret to say, can 't take the truth, and my comment that his accordions , lack the Luthiers craftnanship "touch" remains incontested and in that context true.

Respectfully.

Krazzy Kannuk.

I have to agree: not infallible. I don't know if Mr. Larry Miller has "lurked" this board for the 6 years (if I recall) +/- that it has been around, but I wouldn't call stepping in once to let us know that his business will continue in his grandson's hands "shameless". Many posters on this board have wondered what would happen with Larry's business, and he just answered the questions.

In my experience, Mr. Larry has provided excellent service to his customers (including myself, even though I obtained my Bon Cajun on Ebay), and his instruments play well and hold up extremely well under my ham-handed abuse. He has been most generous in sharing his knowledge of Cajun music and culture.

In short: the integrity of the man trumps the angle of his corners.

Steven Blais

Steve,

Let me clarify something for you and the rest of this board.

First of: I don't find any faults with Mr.L. Miller's boxes except of course, using Butted corners for his frames construction, nor do I find faults with his legendary good and prompt service and generosity of spirit.

But his use of awkward looking joinery ,unfortunatly detract, and distract the eyes.

To spent so much time, finessing, and cajoling a wooden musical instrument to life, and to "casualy" use second rate and amateurish joinery, is absolutly beyond me.

To spend so much money and getting an inferior product in the process, is mind boggling.

It implies a blatant disreguard and a very disrectpectfull "thumb on the nose" gesture with well establihed local and International fine wood working standards.

It lacks the craftsmanship touch.

But, let me answer your posting with two "fair" questions:

Witch joint do you prefer to see, the butt or mittered joints on Cajun accordions ?, honestly, and why?.

Why do builders use either of these joints?.

K.K

Claude - I appreciate your explanation of the thinking behind your comments. I'm no stranger to aesthetics as a thing people try to achieve and as a thing about which there are innumerable ideas and opinions. I will trot out my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Cornell University; my travels to fine Canadian, U.S., and European museums; and 18 years as a licensed architect to bolster my credentials. Not to mention the privledge of listening to many different kinds of beautiful music.

Are Cajun accordions a) tools with which to make music in which only tone and action count, b) folk art to be admired for local adaptations used to dress up a wooden box with a limited selection of Italian bellows colors, or c) fine casework?

You ask a fair question: do I like the look of a butt joint or a miter joint? In the context of an accordion frame, I like the miter. But maybe I'd like a through multiple dovetail joint better: I think it would look pretty snazzy with a two-tone interwoven contrast of end grain and face grain, no?

I am reminded of a veneered wood door company representative who despised the look of quartersawn oak veneers: thought the figure (medullary rays) were nasty defects. Good thing he still had plain sawn and rift sawn from which to choose!

It's not absurd of you to ask why certain builders don't join corners a certain way, but I'd rather spend more time playing my accordion than worrying about why other people have certain preferences.

In fact, I wonder why I'm spending time writing this, but I might have to hire an expensive psychologist to find out, and would I want to go with the more established psychoanalytical tradtion, or deal with a Rogerian Humanist?

Inconclusively and with Best Regards,
Steven Blais

Steve,

Thank you, for yor personnal comments, there is nothing to add, except for the matter to gently, sleep into the night.

I know that I have made my point ,so have others, detractors or not.

Life, should gently , again go on.

Opinion varies, I take your point, gallantly, for its good value.

Thank you

Claude.

I never saw a Cajun-accordion that fall to pieces.
So I think that the construction of the boxes is good.
Marc Savoy was standing on one under an Oak-tree, but maybe it's another tree.
Would somebody be so kind to explain the difference between the way of construction of the corners?
On a drawing it should be clear.

i can explain it to you Ron, i`ll send you an email

Wilfred

If you are going to stand on your accordion, I think butt joints hold up better. Perhaps Marc discovered this at some point....

Joking, of course...

Thanks Wilfred, I understand it now.
Marc wasn't so heavy in Jai Ete Au Bal.
What manner is stronger?
That's the next discussion.
And which builders do it butt and which mitered ?

I dont see how either is stronger than the other, it is more a matter of aesthetics. The miter looks cleaner, especially if the frame is made out of one continous piece of wood, and is harder to do without a gap. They both use end grain, which doesnt glue up as well, but the butt is at least using on side grain.

What really beefs up the joint is the glue block on the inside of the frame. But, at least to me, the corner joint doesnt take away from the rest of the accordion, especially with the corner protectors on. I just boils down to taste, and it seems silly for this to come up so much.

Dear Brian,

What it really take are some silly peaople
like you and me to continue add nauseum to dispense advice or knowledge after the fact.

Everything on the subject has been said.

I mean you told me so, a while back,, in no uncertain words.

Your'e infortunatly stirring the gumbo pot.

Give it a rest, or do it privately like Wilfred just did.

Don't tempt anyone to reply, especially me .

K.K.