It's broke and I hope to fix it

[Beap52 608]

Some time ago I wrote about my 88 year old mom having serious surgery.  She is surviving, doing as well as could be expected.  We've  had a sale and sold most all of her possessions and she will be in assisted living for the foreseeable future.  One item in particular that did not sell is, as best as I can tell, a 130 year old organ.  Some call them pump organs, parlor organs or reed organs.  If someone had offered fifty dollars, it would be setting in their garage or living room.  Mom bought this organ 20 years ago and re-finished it.  The old saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."   Well, this organ is broke and I hope to fix it.  It plays but some keys are stuck.  I've been studying working on these organs on the internet and decided to give it a whirl.  It will likely be a rather lengthy process as I don't know how deep into it I'll have to dive.   I have the mirror, but took it out before it fell out.

Edited March 20 by Beap52

[ebinmaine 63,561]

 

Could be interesting...

[davem1111 1,943]

If nothing else, it's a beautiful piece of furniture. If not fixable as an organ, a motivated person could probably replace that keyboard with an electronic keyboard, or a shelf to put one on.  Or, just turn it into a really cool desk. Much nicer than IKEA crap. 

[oliver2-44 8,934]

Take us along for the journey

[Mickwhitt 4,229]

A crying shame that so many of these things get junked, despite their beauty.

I recall that many homes had a piano in my childhood and most could bash out a tune. Then along came TV and games consoles and 'tinternet and the pianos were dragged outside and smashed in their hundreds. 

Go for it and keep the old thing going a while longer. 

Best regards Mick 

[Beap52 608]

Following a call this morning at 2:30, and spending the morning at the ER with mom.  She is suffering with bowel obstruction and will be in the hospital a couple of days hopefully without surgery.  I took a couple of hours this afternoon to open up the organ.  These things were made to be worked on.  The musical part pretty much slid out of the case as a unit.  At least once and maybe twice someone has had this thing opened up as there are pencil marks denoting how things go back together.  Felt was used for bushings, padding and sealing.  If this organ was made today, I sure that plastic would be used extensively, the wooden parts are rather quaint and rustic.  One of  my main concerns was the condition of the billows.  While they are somewhat brittle, they fold as they should and don't seem to have any holes or tears. Leather strips were used to act a reed valves and these are rather stiff and certainly won't seal very well.  I'm hoping the shoe repair shop in town can help me with the leather.

 

[Beap52 608]

I've got several hours in this week cleaning and working on the organ.  I've replaced most of the felt seals and leather parts.  I taped the bellows where they had small air leaks and they are holding air much better. Without removing the bellows covering. I couldn't replace a piece of leather valving inside the exhauster bellows so some air leaks into the main vacuum reservoir . I cleaned all 122 brass reeds.  One was broken but I managed to glue a small piece of aluminum to the tongue and it's closer to being in tune than before.  Several reeds were stuck and gently washing got them back to functioning.  Almost all of the felt was in pretty bad shape due to being eaten by an insect or it's larvae. 

 

The picture below shows the section that holds the reeds.  The line of holes down the center is were small dowel rods, when pressed upon by the keys, open a wooden and leather valve below allowing air to be drawn over the reeds.  Basically, the mechanical part of then organ is 4 components.  The top one contains the stops.  (the knobs one would pull to change the sound) next are the keys, the next level down is the one pictured and on the botton are the bellows.

 

I'm using hyde glue.  Fortunately, I as able to order modern hyde glue from Ace Hardware made by Titebond that doesn't require mixing and a warming pot.  Hyde glue is used because it is water soluble and parts can be be separated for repairs.  If the craftsmen some 130 years ago used wood glue, this thing would be in the trash.

 

I have this section of the organ clamped down to the top of then billows that are located below.  I am gluing the leather gasket to the billows section and the air box is holding the leather tight against the billows.  It would be nice of I or my wife could play this thing but I can barely play a radio.

[ebinmaine 63,561]

Many people in my family have inherited a great ability to play or sing. 

 

I'm not one of them. 😀

 

My paternal grandmother was  - so I'm told - quite the accomplished organist. 

 

Nice work on this...

[Beap52 608]

I got 'er done today.  It has been a really interesting project.  I expected it to take longer to complete than it did.  For one thing, I purchased most of the stuff for repair locally and I spent a bunch of hours in the shop the past ten days.  Although I used synthetic felt instead of wool felt and taped the bellows instead of replacing them, each and every knob or key produces sound.  As I cleaned and worked on it, I thought to myself "It's been 115 to 130 years since some of these parts have been removed or messed with."  

 

I did discover one thing,  I'll never play an instrument like this.  I have dupuytren's disease.  This disease causes fingers to roll in and there is no way I can stretch my fingers to make a cord.   If you look lower left, you'll see the sawhorse "stool" I sat on while one-fingering the keyboard.  The hymnal (printed in the 1920's) is only for show.  I can't real a lick of music and those dots and things don't mean a thing to me!

 

I think I spent about $40 in supplies.

 

 

[Mickwhitt 4,229]

Now that is a job well done sir!

 

We often think our modern methods and materials are superior to those that have been condemned to the history books. But those boys knew a lot more than we give em credit for. 

 

I'd love to see a new plastic synthesiser in a couple hundred years, you can bet it won't work and would be nigh impossible to repair. 

 

I just read a book about the first ever production land rover being renovated. The guy who had it was a farmer and he needed to drag it out of a field. He decided to use an old tractor for the job, but the block was cracked by freezing and the big end bearings were shot. He made new shells out of an old paint can and got it running, he used a 45 gal drum of water to constantly fill the cooling system as water poured out of the split block. Got the job done though.

 

My hat is off to you sir, I can't play a note either but I'd have done the same as you for the love of it. 

[ebinmaine 63,561]

Beautiful!!

[rjg854 10,812]

That truly wonderful piece of history.  So happy you took the time to get it back into shape.   Maybe you can find someone who is actually        able to play it.