Website design by Philip T Radford. Website & forums administrator Phil T Radford. © 2006
I’ve been Converted Page 2.
The size of the wind chest depended on the pipe layout, and for this I referred once
again to the photos taken of John’s organ, -
This has subsequently been a source of great interest and amusement when playing in public! To close the chest a 1/4” board was screwed to the bottom with a sealing strip all round, which made provision for access to the valves for servicing. Finally an air inlet block was secured to the top surface and sealed with a leather gasket. I now had three separate units sitting on the bench
The pipe spacing was then measured to establish the hole centers to be drilled in the top board of the wind chest. This board was made from 1/2” thick MDF faced with 1/8” tempered hardboard for the outer surface. The pallet valves were mounted on the underside of this board aligned with the holes previously drilled. Fitting the pallet valves (Photo) took a little care to ensure they sat squarely over the holes, but apart from that, some careful marking out made the job straightforward. Next came the wiring of the pallet valves—what a job!. Alan Pells instructions are perfectly clear, but
sorting out the co lour coding on the 25 tiny wires in the cable was tricky. I had to enlist the help of my wife, who has a much keener sense of co lour than I have, to sort out which wire went to which valve. It’s most important to get it right, ‘cos you don't know if you’ve made a mistake until the organ is finished and playable! Having completed the fitting and wiring of the pallet valves on the top board, the wind chest sides were added (photo) made from tempered hardboard. I cut a small window in the front of the chest so that it would be possible to see some of the pallet valves working when the organ was playing.
A double acting Bellows unit.
An “electronic” Music Box,
And a windchest with 20 pipes sitting on it. In fact everything to make an organ work, but no case to put it in. The case was designed around the three modular units above, and comprised of two sides with three cross rails at the bottom and two cross rails half way up. The bottom rails were to support the windchest at the front of the case and the bellows at the back. The top rails were to support the electronics box, the two bearing blocks for the crank shaft, and a dividing partition.(photo).
I sought the help of an engineering friend who made the single throw crankshaft and handle for me. I designed the crankshaft with the slotted disc for the motion sensor mounted at the free end. To hold the pipes securely in the case, a removable rail was fitted behind the front row and the pipes were attached to it with Velcro patches. (photo).
Website design by Philip T Radford. Website & forums administrator Phil T Radford. © 2006