Swell Chest Number 2 Restoration Complete
The Swell division (pipes played by the 3rd keyboard from the bottom) is so large that it has two main wind chests that the pipes live on. Restoration of these chests involves complete disassembly and removal of all moving parts, cleaning the chest inside and out, renewing the shellac finish, replacing all perishable materials (such as leather and rubber cloth), polishing or replacing all metal components (screws, tacks, electrical contact pins, etc.), and reassembling the many tiny parts that make up this one large chest.
Installation of newly made pitman valves. The pitman valves for a particular stop (such as a Trumpet of Flute) control whether the pipes of that stop play when a note is engaged on the chest. Each pipe on this chest has a corresponding pitman valve. Hundreds of these tiny valves are made by punching out discs of leather and affixing them to a tiny wood stem with a brass tack. Organ building can be very tedious and very repetitive!
Lead tubes installed to connect related wind channels. Each section of tube is hand cut, flared, and bent before being glued before installation.
More pitman valves being installed.
Leather gaskets are glued in place with hot hide glue to ensure everything is airtight and there are no leaks between channels. Each gasket is hand cut to proper size from large skins of leather and all holes (whether for wind channels or screw holes) must be marked and cut out with leather punches and a mallet.
Main body and components of the chest reassembled and lying upside-down with the pouch boards also laying upside-down to view the beautiful leatherwork. The brown leather disks are the pouches, which move up and down by pneumatic pressure when engaged by the organist. The smaller white disks are felt and leather valves glued onto the pouches, which tightly seal the pneumatic channels when a pouch is not being engaged. Each piece is hand punched and glued together before being glued to the wooden pouch rails.
The chest upside-down with pouch rails and all mechanical components installed. Now both main chests of this division are completely restored and ready for another century of reliable service.
Installation of newly made pitman valves. The pitman valves for a particular stop (such as a Trumpet of Flute) control whether the pipes of that stop play when a note is engaged on the chest. Each pipe on this chest has a corresponding pitman valve. Hundreds of these tiny valves are made by punching out discs of leather and affixing them to a tiny wood stem with a brass tack. Organ building can be very tedious and very repetitive!Lead tubes installed to connect related wind channels. Each section of tube is hand cut, flared, and bent before being glued before installation.More pitman valves being installed.Leather gaskets are glued in place with hot hide glue to ensure everything is airtight and there are no leaks between channels. Each gasket is hand cut to proper size from large skins of leather and all holes (whether for wind channels or screw holes) must be marked and cut out with leather punches and a mallet.Main body and components of the chest reassembled and lying upside-down with the pouch boards also laying upside-down to view the beautiful leatherwork. The brown leather disks are the pouches, which move up and down by pneumatic pressure when engaged by the organist. The smaller white disks are felt and leather valves glued onto the pouches, which tightly seal the pneumatic channels when a pouch is not being engaged. Each piece is hand punched and glued together before being glued to the wooden pouch rails.The chest upside-down with pouch rails and all mechanical components installed. Now both main chests of this division are completely restored and ready for another century of reliable service. Recent
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