Hello All, things are coming together, I have the tracker bar from Ed, Jays working on the care pachage, and the plans are on the way. Everyones pics will be a big help. One request of Tom, could you post a pic of the box from the top with the lide open. The pics you posted on page 96 will be very helpful. Chuck I really like your pipe mounting, seems making a long pipe would be easier than mitered pipes. Getting started on a note book from posts on this site which will be helpful as I start the build. Almost forgot, wife has issues with "the hat", but I think I can work around that somehow.

Thanks again and be safe

Kenny Heermann
 
Last edited:
They do have some get togethers in the UK. John has hooked up 3 of the Topsy's to play at the same time. Raffin has a video of 4 or 5 people cranking his organs together and I think there are a couple of the John Smith Universals playing together also.
We just need to get a group of them done and try it. :thumb:

Yup sir you correct tracked down one video here is a link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xlb1doh_4w&feature=related

Man how can you not be delighted by the sound of these organs. Just does not cease to solicit a smile in me.:):thumb:
 
Just for the info the guy in the red sweater is Josef Raffin the designer and builder of the 3 organs playing. Its fun to watch him as he really feels his music.

Hi folks,
Note also that the organs in the video are not MIDI operated. They synchronize them by cranking together. I've tried it. It's fun, but not so easy. It's really hard to tell who is ahead or behind, then to adjust correctly. When you get it right, it really sounds great. People have also arranged special rolls with different parts just for this purpose.

Good luck,
Bob

PS
I have a gig at the local community park on the 4th. Video and photos to follow.

Also, check out Herr Raffin in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQWZxYz6cU4
 
Last edited:
Also, check out Herr Raffin in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQWZxYz6cU4

Ok Bob now i know why i like that guy, ever been to a real German Beer hall, well now i need a beer to watch that video, oops what would loml say if i had one at 10 in the morning.:rofl: He is a great guy what a character and great music.:thumb:

Check out how happy this guy is and how much he is enjoying the music he is making.
 
Chuck, I really like the pipe arrangement you did. It looks great and is not the normal....which I like.


I'm back to work on mine this week after taking a week off for vacation. Sometimes it just feels like I take one step forward and two steps.....(make that three steps) back. As everything is starting to come together I'm finding that it all fits very very tight. I sure wish I had made the openings in the mechanic side walls larger to fit the idler and such through....very close indeed.
Here are a few photos of where I'm at with mine. I got the handles on my cranks done tonight. I put a roll of music in it and it seems to crank and roll and rewind nice and smooth so that is a good sign. Not sure if my lid is going to be air tight or not...not liking the fit. I also do not like the way the tracker bar is held down with the 4 screws. Seems like a improvement can be made there.

Tom

Hi Tom,

In your picture it looks like you'll have both of the bellows rods on the same line, rather than one bellow arm down and the other up. You'll want to have the bellows pumping alternately rather than together so you get a constant wind pressure to the reservoir.

- Gary
 
Hey Gary, thanks for that information. Actually I have not worked at setting up the bellow arms yet as I don't have my bellows ready to go in yet. I think I will have to shorten the rods also. I simply put the crank arm in it right now to get all the bushings lined up correctly. However that is something that I had not looked into and would have had to get figured out. So that answers that for me and I thank you.

Jay....what do you mean you missed it.....your slipping ol boy... :rofl::rofl:

All day while I'm at work I think about what I want to work on when I get home and two nights in a row now I have had something else come up and nothing got done. :( :(

Tom
 
All day while I'm at work I think about what I want to work on when I get home

Tom,
You're lucky it's at work. I do most of my pondering in bed, from about 1 to 3 am. I've often had to get up at three and hit the shop to see if it worked like I planned.

I’ve veneered the front of the back row of pipes with Bird’s Eye Maple. I think it would look better mounted on a dark pipe board because I think the Maple would stand out better with a dark background. The outside of case is going to be stained walnut and I will have a walnut top, front and base, so I think I’ll stain the inside of the case and re-do the pipe boards (the existing ones are unstained but shellacked).
 
Last edited:
Well Chuck, I had one of those nights last night. I'm determined to get my bellows finished up this weekend. I only had the wood parts done. So this weekend was getting the cloth fitted to them. I worked on getting my cardboard pieces cut out and was happy with my progress for the evening...or so I thought. I went to bed but could not rest and ended up going back out and working till 2am. I now have my cloth cut out and have glued on the first cloth. It is clamped up and now I'm waiting for the glue to dry. Not sure if I need to keep it clamped all night or not. I only made one set of clamps so I can only do one at a time. The black cloth from Jay is much thicker than what John uses in his video and therefore does not lay down quite as easily however it has not been a problem and is probably a much nicer material anyway.

Questions...do the con rods need bushings?
Does the tracker bar need a finish on it? I got mine from Ed. It looks nice but does not have a finish on it. My only concern is whether the music paper will over time wear into the wood if a hard finish is not put on it.

Tom
 
Well Chuck, I had one of those nights last night. I'm determined to get my bellows finished up this weekend. I only had the wood parts done. So this weekend was getting the cloth fitted to them. I worked on getting my cardboard pieces cut out and was happy with my progress for the evening...or so I thought. I went to bed but could not rest and ended up going back out and working till 2am. I now have my cloth cut out and have glued on the first cloth. It is clamped up and now I'm waiting for the glue to dry. Not sure if I need to keep it clamped all night or not. I only made one set of clamps so I can only do one at a time. The black cloth from Jay is much thicker than what John uses in his video and therefore does not lay down quite as easily however it has not been a problem and is probably a much nicer material anyway.

Questions...do the con rods need bushings?
Does the tracker bar need a finish on it? I got mine from Ed. It looks nice but does not have a finish on it. My only concern is whether the music paper will over time wear into the wood if a hard finish is not put on it.

Tom

Tom put a good finish on it and make sure it is very smooth that poly that you guy like would work just fine on it. :thumb:

The glue should be dry enough after an hour or so to be able to move on to the next one without any problems it just wont be full strength until 24 hrs. :thumb:

Your right the cloth is thicker but also MUCH better then blackout cloth and should hold up for more years than I want to talk about.:rofl::rofl:
 
Great movies -- looks like fun for you and all!

What camera did you use to shoot the movie for YouTube?

Real clear and good quality!

paul
 
This weekends work has been going well and I'll get pictures posted soon however right now I'm starting to think about the PIPES. If I understand it correctly, all pipes start out as long straight pipes. If a pipe needs to be cut and mitered to fit in the case it is done AFTER it is built up???? I also understand that all of the pipes should be made about 10% longer than the plans call for????? I'll be making mine out of 1/8 Baltic birch ply and sealing the insides with shellac. Anyone have any special tips for me that I may not know or have forgotten about.

Tom
 
Would a simple metal collar work are does the larger wooden one act as a fly wheel ?
 
Last edited:
Top