It's the middle of winter...
which can only mean that it's organ time again! Well, also that I'm always irritable. But mostly it means that it's time to work on the organ again.When last winter and my interest waned, the next order of business was to replace the felt and skin on the lower pallets. This is not a particularly difficult task, but it is tedious in that it has to be done 49 times, as there is one pallet for each key. First the old skin and felt must be cut off the pallets, followed by a little sanding to smooth out the surface. Then the pallets are glued to a piece of felt of appropriate width and left for a day. They are separated and the excess felt trimmed off. Then the felt-side of the pallet is glued to pigskin of appropriate width, and the trimming is repeated.
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| Pallets relieved of their old felt and skin (top) |
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| Gluing the pallets to new felt |
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| Separating and trimming |
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| Gluing the pallets, felt-side down, to pigskin |
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| Finished pallets |
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| Reinstalling pallets to the underside of the reeds. Held in place by springs (left and top) |
For anyone curious, there is one small trick to this process. The felt and the skin are not completely glued down. Rather, a thin bead of glue is run down the middle of each so that the felt and skins are only attached down their middle. I'm not sure what sort of calamity would occur if I had simply slathered them with glue and attached them, but I was warned to avoid that by someone that I felt had more knowledge about the matter.
While I'm thinking of it, let me express my gratitude to the pig, which had no idea it would contribute its skin to this project, and, undoubtedly, had even less desire to do so. If the organ is restored to playing condition, you, dear piggy, will have been the most invested contributor. If it cannot be, well, sorry.
The Big Test
Right, at this point the organ is more-or-less playable - or not. It is time to test the progress to this point, especially the bellows and the reeds. If the organ plays, well, then it's an organ. If it does not, well, then... shit. Time to find another project.So there it is - the project continues!
