Practical Organ Building

by W. E. Dickson

Fig. 35.

But parallel backfalls occur constantly as transmitters of motion from the keys to the rollers, and in other positions which will be noticed. The plantation of pipes shown in Fig. 5, for instance, and the reverse of it, which has the larger pipes in the centre, can only be adopted by having a roller for every pallet; and in this case the backfalls will be parallel, whether the action be by stickers or by trackers.

Already, we hope, we have given explanations so far intelligible that ingenious reader's might have no difficulty in devising for themselves some one of the numerous distinct combinations which may be made of the nine pieces or members which we began by defining.

Let us take, however, the very common arrangement of Fig. 6 as that of our organ, and apply to it the rules already laid down.

1. The keys will be procured, of course, from a maker, unless the cost—fifty to sixty shillings—can be saved by adapting an old set. We ourselves are admirers of the old-fashioned claviers with black naturals and white sharps, or sharps of bone or ivory with an ebony line down the middle of each. We possess two specimens of double manuals of this kind; one of them, taken from an organ by the elder England, is extremely handsome, with a mahogany frame almost black from age, purfled like a highly finished violin. It was presented to the writer many years ago by the late excellent builder, Mr. Walker. The other double set, in a plainer frame, was bought at a sale for the sum of one shilling and sixpence! The chief objection to the use of old claviers is that the keys, from long usage or from original faulty construction, rattle audibly against their guide-pins. This, however, may be quite obviated by bushing the little mortices which receive the guide-pins with fine cloth, as modern piano keys are bushed, or with thin leather—for instance, the kid of old gloves. If the keys are handsome, a little patience bestowed in this way may well reward the operator, who will find the movement of his old manual when this is done as silent as he can wish it to be.

2. We shall assume that the front board of the wind-chest is above the keys, and that the organ is to stand against the wall. Hence the backfalls will be turned towards the player, as in Figs. 32 and 34. But all that we shall say will be applicable to backfalls acting on a back wind-chest.

The keys, whether new or old, will probably be 18 or 19 inches in length from their front edges to the rear. Their position in the frame should be such as to allow the front edge to project 10 inches at least beyond the front line of the wind-chest, in order to allow room for a book-board; hence our backfalls will be short. But their shortness will not be an evil, since the extent of their play or oscillation is extremely trifling. One-third of an inch will be a sufficient descent of the pull-down; the other end of the backfall will traverse a similar space, and it will easily be seen how small an arc will be described by any point near the centre. Backfalls from 4 to 6 inches in length will, therefore, present no practical inconvenience. At the same time it must be admitted that with such short backfalls the obliquity of those to the extreme left will be somewhat embarrassing, and we shall recommend the use of rollers for the six pallets to the left as well as those to the right, especially since, as we shall show, the width of the roller-board will not be materially increased thereby.

The backfalls should be of oak or mahogany, and the bridge of the same, or other hard wood. If the bridge is not sufficiently strong and rigid, a disagreeable and perceptible yielding of the whole manual will take place when the player presses down a chord. The backfalls, if parallel, or if only at a moderate degree of obliquity, will oscillate upon a single wire extending throughout the whole range. This wire should be sunk in a score or channel made with a V-tool before the notches of the bridge are cut; and it should be held firmly down by small cross slips of oak screwed with very fine screws into the wood of the bridge between every six or so of the backfalls. This is much better than the common way of driving in little staples of wire, which are apt to split the wood, and are not easily extracted in case of repairs becoming necessary. The small holes for such screws may be bored conveniently with a drill, revolving by means of the Archimedean drill-stock, now sold in all tool-shops for the use of fret-cutters.

Stickers may be quickly, easily, and neatly made by a bead plane. Take a piece of three-eighth pine board of the requisite length and dress it over. Then, with a three-eighth bead plane, strike a bead along one edge, reversing the board when cut half through, and using the plane as before. A slender wooden rod will be the result, which will only require a little smoothing with glass-paper. To fit the wires into the ends of the stickers, mark the centre of the rod with a punch or other suitable pointed tool, and pierce a hole with a fine drill revolving in the lathe. The wire may then be driven down without fear of splitting the sticker or of entering it obliquely and penetrating the side of it.