Practical Organ Building

by W. E. Dickson

2. Between the bars of the sound-board, at a distance of 6½ inches from that side at which you mean the movable front board to be, glue pieces of thin wood about 2 inches long and fitting nicely, and when the glue is dry dress these over with a fine plane truly flush with the edges of the bars and of the cheeks. You have now a firm wooden surface to which you will glue, by-and-by, the little flap of leather which forms the hinge of the pallet.

3. The width of the wind-chest will be governed by that of the space covered by the pallets to be enclosed within it, in our case about 8 or 9 inches. 3 inches will be a sufficient depth. Make the two ends or cheeks of stout stuff, and face them up to correspond with those of the sound-board, with which they will be flush, taking care that their thickness is not so great as to prevent the leaving of an ample margin to the two extreme channels for the pallet to rest upon.

Remark.—In one of these cheeks a trunk-hole may have to be cut for the entrance of the wind. We ourselves greatly prefer making the trunk-hole in the bottom board of our chests. Your plans may not admit of this, and you will act accordingly.

The back of the chest, called the "wind-bar," d, Fig. 13, should be of strong and sound stuff, oak or mahogany, as it greatly helps to strengthen the whole sound-board and to bear the weight of the pipes. The corners should be dovetailed, or otherwise well and firmly jointed. These three pieces, the two cheeks and the back or wind-bar, will now be attached to the sound-board with glue and screws, to be separated from it no more; but the bottom, e (of 1-inch pine), will be fixed on with screws only, strips of soft white leather being interposed between the surfaces to ensure air-tightness; and the front board, f, will be similarly fitted with an eye to occasional removal.

Remark.—All such screws should be dipped in melted tallow, or otherwise well greased before use, that they may not rust in their places.

4. Prepare the pallets from clean and very dry pine. Every pallet will be at least ¼ inch wider than its channel, that it may have not less than ⅛ inch of overlapping or margin on each side, and it will have more than this space to spare at each end. The pallets will be separated from each other when finally put in by stout pins of iron or brass, driven into the bars g, Fig. 13 and Fig. 14. Two such pins may be necessary between many of the pallets if the plan of your sound-board has given unusual thickness to some of the bars, and therefore unusual spaces between the pallets.

5. The pallets are to be faced with white sheep-skin, and it is usual, but not absolutely necessary, to give two layers of it to each pallet. About an inch of surplus will be left at one end to form the hinge; and this hinge should be stiffened by gluing a slip of thinner leather upon it and upon the sloped-off end of the pallet. The quality of the facing leather is of the highest importance, and we must counsel the reader to procure it from a builder, or from one of the shops which supply builders' materials. The price of such skins is between three and four shillings. If an inferior leather is used disappointment is sure to ensue; and though leather of very promising appearance may be bought at the fellmongers' or shoemakers' in your town, you will only be put to new expense and additional trouble in the end by using it. In putting the leather on the pallets, a common plan is to pin down a sheet of glass-paper of medium roughness on a board, and to scatter a little whitening on it. The face of each leathered pallet (when the glue is dry) is gently drawn across this whitened surface. If, however, the leather is of superior quality in the first instance the glass-paper may be omitted, and a little whitening rubbed upon the leathered face will suffice. Even this may not be essential.

6. In working the pallets in take great care that each channel is covered by its pallet with an equal margin or surplus on each side of it. It is well to trace pencil lines on the bars as a guide. As you glue down each hinge give a little tap with a light hammer to the pallet, and satisfy yourself by inspection that the impression on the leather is equal and similar in every part. Allow no defect to pass. Rectify, for instance, the slightest bruise or depression in any of the bars at the points covered by the pallets. See, also, that all the pallets play easily between their guide-pins. Finally, a slip of wood about an inch wide may be bradded down upon the hinge-pieces. This is not essential, but it is a protection against possible straining and injury to the hinge by incautious treatment hereafter in cleaning the surface of the pallets.

Remark.—Organs have been constructed in which the pallets were made to play upon a pin at the hinder end, and not upon a leathern hinge glued to the bars. Such pallets could be taken out one by one at any time for repair or cleaning. But repairs and cleaning, if the original workmanship is good, become necessary only at extremely rare intervals, and these removable pallets may be ranked among the mere curiosities of our subject. They are described and figured, however, by Seidel.

7. The springs, see Fig. 13, are now commonly of steel, which has extensively superseded brass, in consequence of the deterioration to which the latter metal is subject. We are bound to say, however, that we have used springs of best brass wire, even of late years, without any disappointing results, and that sets of such brass springs are, to our knowledge, as efficient as ever after thirty or forty years of constant use. But it is undeniable that the brass wire now procurable is subject to a change under the influence of damp and (it is said) under that of the fumes of gas, which renders it brittle and quite useless for purposes which require flexibility. Springs certainly cannot be made from wire so spoilt; but, as we have said, when once made from new wire, they may continue in use for periods practically unlimited.