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Hand Cranked Organ winter project

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Powder Keg:
My wife and I decided to build a small hand cranked organ this winter. I never "needed one" But I like the way they sound. There are a few examples on the net. Here is one example.



They really aren't that hard to build I don't think? There are a few pieces to them though. It will be a 20 note organ. We just started on it. But I have some of the things that I need rounded up and waiting. I'll snap some pictures tomorrow.

ronginger:
I built one of the John Smith 20 note organs 6 or 7 years ago. It was a great project, lots of fun to take to shows- I call it my 'smile machine' because everyone that passes it breaks out in big smiles.

Be very cautious of the plans- trust NOTHING until you double check the other parts., Although the John Smith plans have opened a huge hobby, they are really very poor plans. I guess he understands that because he has a note bout it in the plans and on his web page. On the 20 note he gives some dimensions for the feed rollers, and he gives some text about the ratio. They are not the same, if you build it to the drawings the speed is wrong. My organ has lots of extra holes in the case where I had to move things to get them to fit properly. I started out just taking the drawing and making parts, only when I went to put things together did I figure out the problems.

I did not find any errors in the pipe dimensions.

I just ordered the plans for the 26 note and the Midi organ. Again, the plans are just crude hand sketches, and it takes a long time to study and get them figured out- he does include a DVD that helps a lot. I want to build a MIDI organ, probably a 65 key.

Its a great project, lots of fun to show and both satisfying and frustrating to build. There have been a couple other 20 note and one 26 note at Cabin Fever. The 26 note was a beautiful job, sorry I lost the name of the fellow that built it. He was there last year, hope to see it again this year.

Powder Keg:
Thanks For your input Ron. I've heard that about the plans before. I've been looking them over. I love how e has metric and english dimensions on the same drawing. I'm pretty excited about this project.

NickG:
Sounds pretty complicated to me Wes! Interesting though, I'll certainly be watching if you managed to get any pics on here. I see a guy at all the shows up here that stands there cranking it over - I always thought it must be a bit boring repeating the same tunes but it never occured to me that he may have built it!

Nick

Powder Keg:
Nick, It's way simpler than it looks. There are 3 billows inside, a pressure box,  and an air bar that directs the air to each whistle. The music is made with paper tapes that when the holes move over the air bar air goes through the hole to the whistle. You can put a couple songs on each paper roll and the rolls are easily changed. That way you can play more than one song:o)

There are quite a few parts though. But if you break them down to pieces it won't be so bad. I don't think?

This weekend we cut up a 1" X 6" popular board into strips that were 2" X 3/16" thick on my band saw. I then took the strips to a buddy's house. He has a thickness sander and we sanded the strips down to 1/8" thick. I haven't had a chance to do any more yet. I had a couple things come up.

 :proj:

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