Practical Organ Building

by W. E. Dickson

This drilling is not a difficult operation, and only requires care and delicate manipulation. Of course, however, any clockmaker would drill the holes for you. Assuming confidently that you will drill them yourself, we recommend you to hold the bottom board, with the plate on it, in the screw-clamp of your bench, or in a similar vertical position, so that as the drill penetrates the brass it may be received by the soft wood of the board. This will diminish the risk of breaking it.

Remark.—Those who have a light handy lathe will know how to utilise it in drilling the holes in the brass plate apart from the board.

When all the holes are drilled, remove the plate, and clean off with a fine file the rough projections thrown up by the drill. With a much larger drill, twirled gently between the thumb and finger, smooth the edges of all the holes on both sides of the plate. Try a bit of the wire in every hole, and draw it to and fro, when necessary, until its passage is perfectly smooth and easy. Grease should not be used; or, if a little tallow is rubbed over the wire, it should be wiped off clean.

The holes in the bottom board itself may be of any size we please, since they have nothing to do with keeping in the wind, and merely allow a perfectly clear passage for the wire pull-downs.

It is plain that if we now pin down the drilled plate in its place, the arrangement will not be complete without some provision for preventing the escape of wind in large quantities, and with an intolerable hissing noise, at the edges of the plate.

The builders prevent this escape and hissing by fitting two long slips or tringles of wood [(see h, k, Fig. 13)] along the two edges of the plate with glue and brads, or screws. These slips press the plate closely to the board throughout its entire length, and they protect from injury at the same time the rings of the pull-downs, which might easily be bent and distorted.

Using thicker plate, however, we ourselves greatly prefer to glue a strip of white leather, of the same width as the plate, over the holes in the board, piercing it with a sufficiently large awl at the centre of each hole, and we screw down our plate upon this leather, using numerous short screws, placed only 4 or 5 inches apart, passing through holes drilled near the edges of the plate, and countersunk in the usual way. All escape of air is thus most effectually prevented, and the slips or tringles of wood become unnecessary, except, indeed, in their secondary character as protectors of the rings.

The bottom board may now be put on, and strongly secured by plenty of screws, well lubricated with tallow. Prepare the pull-downs, of uniform length, each with its little ring neatly formed; pass each through its hole in the plate, and with suitable pliers form the top of the wire into a hook, which takes hold of the ring of the pallet.

Remark.—Or you may pass all the wires through the holes, and form the hooks upon their ends before you fix the board in its place.

The builders often muffle the hook or ring with silk thread, or a morsel of soft and thin leather, to prevent a slight clicking noise which might be heard of wire against wire. This, however, is really not essential. It is, or formerly was, very common also to interpose an S of wire between the hook of the pull-down and the ring of the pallet. These connecting links are unnecessary, and are better omitted.