Claude re: laser... Yes.

You can do CO2 laser. The trick is that there are various grades of hardness among wood. Unlike any rotary router type bit, the Laser settings are crucial to the hardness and the DPI settings for specific detail.

Laser in this fashon, operates on a digitized pattern of grey scale. The darker portions of the grey scale achieves the deeper cuts and the lighter shades recieve a delicate minimized cuts. So in essance, any black and white photo (or converted photo to black and white) can establish the digitized parameters for etching and engraving using a
CO2 laser through the grey scale. The beam is measured in wattage, as such, the settings and programming from a computer is the real measure of success or failure. This is the method of engraving I was looking to emerge into the 3D artform for accordions. There is much much more, for what I will not go into.

Hope I did not bore you too much. Oh and did I mention that laser can do miter cuts with precission??

Nonc D

Then there's the kind of bas relief sculpting that can be done with abrasive media, like what is done with "sand-carved" wooden signs.

There's really no reason an accordion body couldn't look like Kermit the Frog made out of urethane foam, as long as there was a place for bellows in the middle and buttons at either end.

And why not buttons in a curve like some computer keyboards? You could cast an impression of the heel of your thumb to get the proper shape for the back of the button board...er-ga-cordionomics

All of the methods mentioned could be used for decorating accordions. The problem is return on investment!!!