This Is: The Oldest Thing in My Family

This is a wooden box.

This is an old German accordion.

This is wood stain and polyurethane.

This is foam and fabric and glue.

This is the family crest.

This is an old German accordion ...

... in a box.

Let's start from the beginning. This is a box my dad built several years ago for a very specific purpose: to house the accordion my great-grandfather brought to America from Germany (or at least that's how the origin story goes).

He isn't going to finish it. So I did. The box has been sitting outside in the wood shop for a few years now. The wood shop, like many of the sheds and barns on the Steinke homestead, isn't air tight. So it got a little water damaged and dried out, but it wasn't so far gone that it couldn't be saved.

So I stripped off all the hardware, which also was showing some wear.

I sanded the box down and got most of the slight water damage off it.

Just in case, I went with a dark stain. Now you can't see anything but the beautiful oak. I also found replacement hardware for the front of the box at Lowe's because the brass-plated hardware it had was flaking and wouldn't have looked good with the finished box. I wish I could have found some real brass hardware but they didn't have any. I'm guessing that's why my dad went with this in the first place.

I stained the inside of the box, too, so it would be all matchy matchy.

After I stained it, but before I clear-coated it, I had a local artist paint something on the lid for me. Family heirloom, family crest, right?

The accordion fits pretty snugly in the box, but there was room for a 1-inch layer of foam on the bottom for cushioning. There was not enough room for another 1-inch layer in the lid. That's how much wiggle room my dad built into the box.

Then I called in my fabrics expert to help me cut some lining for the box.

We bought a blue fabric and some fusible cushioning. I was in charge of ironing them together. The batting-like cushioning came with a heat-activated glue on it, so they stuck right together.

My expert sewed the corners together a bit and we glued it to the box. The glue was really strong. We got it as straight as we could. No one will notice if it's a little askew anyway because the accordion will be in it all the time.

You'll remember I replaced the front hardware on the box. Unfortunately, I couldn't find replacements for the back hinges ... until today. In my mom's garage was a whole box of brand new hardware my dad must have picked up at an auction. Including matching hinges for the box ... exactly one set. They are real brass, not brass-plated. So they won't start flaking.

And since you were nice enough to read this far, here are a few bonus pictures of the accordion:

To answer your questions: Yes, I did open it very slowly and it does still work. And no, I don't know how to play it.