A thoroughly enjoyable series Ron, thanks so much for posting! Best of luck with the shoulder and can't wait to see it running when you're feeling up to it.
I have enjoyed a number of your videos, Your systematic, organized and compartmentalized methods of craftsmanship really appeal to me. I have enjoyed a number of organ projects over the years, including: Two octave, air driven calliope as explained in Popular Mechanics, December 1981 edition. Castlewood 20 note organ kit. Scratch built two octave, keyboard pipe organ. The John Smith, 26 note, Universal Organ. These were great projects. I'm thankful to have accomplished them. I prayed a lot! (John 3:16). Take care Ronald. All is well. Robert Hammell, Aurora CO.
Thank you for the nice comment. It was your video of Sailors Hornpipe, which convinced me I had to have that music roll for the Senior 20 and it is my favorite song. I have watched several of your videos as well and was interested in your homemade calliope. Actually it was the December 1982 issue… but you made me look. :-) I found that issue on Google books but have yet to figure out how to purchase or print out the specific pages. My next project is to assemble the second Senior 20 (I built two at the same time) with a conductor in the front and play around with a motor drive in each of the Senior 20’s. Then it will be the Universal with the conversion to also play midi files. The glockenspiel is nice visual entertainment for the audience but the pipes are too loud and you really can’t hear it. I like your two octave keyboard pipe organ. I just happen to have a Kenmore vacuum cleaner motor and blower (brand new). Too bad there aren’t plans for that but I don’t play any instrument, which makes the music rolls or midi files so attractive. I know where Aurora is. I lived in Denver for a couple of years 1985-1988. Ron Walters
It was good to hear from you Ronald. I'm glad the Sailor's Hornpipe video was helpful. That's a great old song. Thanks for the magazine date correction. I first wrote 1981 and then changed it. Should have left it be. I'm 76 years old. Yes, the glockenspiel does not create enough volume. I usually play it alone, or with one rank of pipes. Your upcoming Universal/midi project will be fun. Upon receiving my Universal Organ package, I spent three evenings in backyard studying written info. and drawings. I almost decided it was beyond my ability. Then it came to mind: start with something I know--making pipes. I made the lowest bass pipe. After that, and rereading instructions over and over, all was well. I'll look forward to your upcoming videos. It is good to see mechanical music being kept alive on the Internet. Your woodworking tools are fantastic. I make do the best I can. I trust your shoulder is well. We all have stuff to deal with along the journey of life. Bob Hammell
I finally got the magazine article to print for the calliope. I was surprised the pipes didn’t have any notes assigned for tuning and that there is no pressure relief valve. The article is a bit dated using those old hair dryers and they probably had a hard time just keeping up. Can you tell me what you tuned it for… first note to last? Where did you obtain your aluminum tubing for the calliope and what did you use for a blower? Do you know what pressure your calliope runs at (inches of water)? It looks like 0.083” wall tubing would work (if I can find any). I’m 7 years behind you (but catching up rather fast). The shoulder is OK; it’s all the other stuff that’s dragging me down. I have my doubts I will do very many videos on the Universal. It takes 3 or 4 times longer to do something when you have to shoot and edit video as well. Ron
I'm glad you found the article. Amazing. Since there are no bellows, a pressure relief valve does not seem necessary(?) Yes, hair dryers never did seem right, given internal noise. I purchased a small industrial, used blower ($7.00). It is installed in a wood box next to the calliope. It is covered with old blankets to subdue noise. A vacuum hose brings wind up to back of instrument into the wind chest. The lowest note is Middle C, -- the first white key on keyboard. From there it tunes just like a piano up to highest note. 15 white and 10 black keys. In 1981 I did not consider wall thickness for pipes. I purchased aluminum from local home improvement store. 1" and 3/4" outer diameter tubing was easy to find. Finding 5/8" for highest notes was difficult --- located it at a salvage yard. Of course this was before the Internet. I'm not up to speed on "inches of water" or optimum pressure for operation. You'd think I would be having constructed the Universal organ. I'm sure with your engineering skills and common sense, you will find ways to improve things along the way. I cut the keys on keyboard the same width as piano keys, to make playing easier. Instead of safety pins in the wind chest to act as springs, I used small springs found at Ace Hardware. I did not make the support apparatus below the keys. No problem. It works well. Let me know if I can answer more questions. I'm sure we could write a book about things that drag us down. This makes projects and hobbies very important for us. A great way to spend time. Have a fine day! Bob
847 pieces plus one talented man. Great work. The patience you must have to do the fret work, I would probably skip the tiny cutouts after 3 hours of disconnecting the blade:D.
Krylon is not cheap paint ! It is however, IMHO, the best canned spray paint you can buy. It dries fast and can easily be layered and it cures hard after a day or two. I like to paint outside on sunny days and you can apply coats at about 15 minute intervals.
Koert van der Veer I'm headed for shoulder surgery in about one hour so it may be a while. Eventually there will be several videos posted of it playing.
I was just experimenting with making the littlest pipe today. I'm not sure exactly what's going on but it makes a note sounds when the end of the pipe is open but when I plug it with say a tuning plug, I don't get any sound. I'll have to keep experimenting
Don't know... unless the plug is not sealing (an air leak) or the pipe is leaking (not sealed)? The pipes as dimensioned do work. You need to pay attention to the way John Smith gives the dimensions... like the dimension plus wood thickness which is actually plus 2 thicknesses of the wood (each side of the dimension.
Hi Ronald, Me again. Hope I'm not becoming a pain in the tookus. I'm realizing after reading the Senior 20 plans 3 times, there's a whole lot of lea way. not much on the front or back panel. do you have a plan of your front pipe mounting board? I'd be happy to pay for any drawings you may have. I'm a very experienced wood worker, how ever, I think you're mounting board is more then I could come up with. Thanks Colby
YOU need to decide how your pipes are going to be placed in the front of your organ. Conductor or no conductor. Motor drive or no motor drive, etc. (I suggest the motor drive.) You are a long way away from needing to do that. Then you use the pipe arrangement to layout the mounting board and remove as much plywood as possible to lighten it. There are no drawings. My drawing was done directly on the plywood (for both organs). I'm just showing you how I made mine. There is some leeway in areas like the case, but the bellows, reservoir, pressure box (important stuff) should be built & dimensioned as drawn or you may end up with a mess. John Smith's plans are just giving you the basic idea... there is a lot left for interpretation. The hardest part is just getting started. The number on my videos is the order in which i built mine. The more you read John Smiths plans the more you will appreciate my video series. Please watch the ads and subscribe. That is what keeps this channel available.
Thanks, I've decided agains the conductor. I'll also be going with the hand crank. I feel it will be more fun for my younger family members to turn the crank and make the music. I've read through John Smiths plans several times, and every time I do, I learn more and relate more, as well as rely more on your videos. I think I've watched your videos about 3 or 4 times, as well as referencing them as I read the plans. I have so greatfull and appreciative of all the time you've invested in your videos! You're a very meticulous person and it's well appreciated! Thank you so much for your help and attention. Colby
Having built the first one... and having become older... and having now had 4 shoulder surgeries in the past 7 years... I have come to realize that turning the hand crank sucks for older people. Since converting the first organ to motor drive, I have played it 10 times more often than before the motor drive and most of the time nobody else is around. And, as long as you realize, it can always be hand cranked... you don't need to use the motor... just hide the belt and don't tell the younger people about the motor. And the motorized rewind is great. If you "plan" for the motor you can always add it later just as I did. If you don't plan for it, then you'll end up having to remake the bass pipes. :-(
Ronald its perfect but i didnt understand that how did machine working. İ mean how you connect tracker bar and front pipes. They have only one hole to air in it. How tracker bar works when its out hole is opn. How tracker bar send air to front pipe when its front is not covered with paper? Can you please explain me. Thanks
***** There are 20 pipes in the organ. There are 20 holes in the tracker bar, each hole is for a specific pipe. Each hole in the tracker bar is connected to the corresponding pipe with a rubber hose. The music roll allows for any combination of the 20 holes to be open. When a hole in the music roll travels across the tracker bar it allows compressed air contained inside the pressure box to travel through the corresponding hose and blow that pipe. If there are no holes in the music roll then none of the pipes sound. If only a few holes are open then only a few pipes will sound. Does that clear it up? Perhaps you can watch the entire 28 video series.
Hello Ronal, I am following your videos, the only big problem is the language, there is the possibility of sending it in Spanish, thanks and take good care of yourself
Your only option is to select subtitles (click on CC at the bottom of the video screen), which are generated automatically by CZcams. I have gone to each video and selected them for Spanish language, which is also automatically translated. There are 65 videos in this series so that took a few hours to do. Not all videos have subtitles. I do not know why but something in the CZcams system will not allow them to be generated (this happens sometimes) and I can not do anything about it. The automatic subtitles today are fairly good but they can sometimes be inaccurate and the translation can also be inaccurate. Thanks for watching. Please subscribe! That is what keeps this channel going. Ron
It's beautiful. Excellent work. That yellow was the perfect decision.
It really turned out right. Thanks for sharing your build experience. I'm learning a lot about wood working as well as building a street organ.
Amazing craftsmanship. Loved this video series, can't wait to hear it play!
An amazing project. Thanks for sharing. Look forward to hearing it play. Best wishes with your shoulder surgery and happy holidays!
A thoroughly enjoyable series Ron, thanks so much for posting! Best of luck with the shoulder and can't wait to see it running when you're feeling up to it.
I have enjoyed a number of your videos, Your systematic, organized and compartmentalized methods of craftsmanship really appeal to me. I have enjoyed a number of organ projects over the years, including: Two octave, air driven calliope as explained in Popular Mechanics, December 1981 edition. Castlewood 20 note organ kit. Scratch built two octave, keyboard pipe organ. The John Smith, 26 note, Universal Organ. These were great projects. I'm thankful to have accomplished them. I prayed a lot! (John 3:16). Take care Ronald. All is well. Robert Hammell, Aurora CO.
Thank you for the nice comment. It was your video of Sailors Hornpipe, which convinced me I had to have that music roll for the Senior 20 and it is my favorite song. I have watched several of your videos as well and was interested in your homemade calliope. Actually it was the December 1982 issue… but you made me look. :-) I found that issue on Google books but have yet to figure out how to purchase or print out the specific pages. My next project is to assemble the second Senior 20 (I built two at the same time) with a conductor in the front and play around with a motor drive in each of the Senior 20’s. Then it will be the Universal with the conversion to also play midi files. The glockenspiel is nice visual entertainment for the audience but the pipes are too loud and you really can’t hear it. I like your two octave keyboard pipe organ. I just happen to have a Kenmore vacuum cleaner motor and blower (brand new). Too bad there aren’t plans for that but I don’t play any instrument, which makes the music rolls or midi files so attractive. I know where Aurora is. I lived in Denver for a couple of years 1985-1988. Ron Walters
It was good to hear from you Ronald. I'm glad the Sailor's Hornpipe video was helpful. That's a great old song. Thanks for the magazine date correction. I first wrote 1981 and then changed it. Should have left it be. I'm 76 years old. Yes, the glockenspiel does not create enough volume. I usually play it alone, or with one rank of pipes. Your upcoming Universal/midi project will be fun. Upon receiving my Universal Organ package, I spent three evenings in backyard studying written info. and drawings. I almost decided it was beyond my ability. Then it came to mind: start with something I know--making pipes. I made the lowest bass pipe. After that, and rereading instructions over and over, all was well. I'll look forward to your upcoming videos. It is good to see mechanical music being kept alive on the Internet. Your woodworking tools are fantastic. I make do the best I can. I trust your shoulder is well. We all have stuff to deal with along the journey of life. Bob Hammell
I finally got the magazine article to print for the calliope. I was surprised the pipes didn’t have any notes assigned for tuning and that there is no pressure relief valve. The article is a bit dated using those old hair dryers and they probably had a hard time just keeping up. Can you tell me what you tuned it for… first note to last? Where did you obtain your aluminum tubing for the calliope and what did you use for a blower? Do you
know what pressure your calliope runs at (inches of water)? It looks like 0.083” wall tubing would work (if I can find any). I’m 7 years behind you (but catching up rather fast). The shoulder is OK; it’s all the other stuff that’s dragging me down. I have my doubts I will do very many videos on the Universal. It takes 3 or 4 times longer to do something when you have to shoot and edit video as well. Ron
I'm glad you found the article. Amazing. Since there are no bellows, a pressure relief valve does not seem necessary(?) Yes, hair dryers never did seem right, given internal noise. I purchased a small industrial, used blower ($7.00). It is installed in a wood box next to the calliope. It is covered with old blankets to subdue noise. A vacuum hose brings wind up to back of instrument into the wind chest. The lowest note is Middle C, -- the first white key on keyboard. From there it tunes just like a piano up to highest note. 15 white and 10 black keys. In 1981 I did not consider wall thickness for pipes. I purchased aluminum from local home improvement store. 1" and 3/4" outer diameter tubing was easy to find. Finding 5/8" for highest notes was difficult --- located it at a salvage yard. Of course this was before the Internet. I'm not up to speed on "inches of water" or optimum pressure for operation. You'd think I would be having constructed the Universal organ. I'm sure with your engineering skills and common sense, you will find ways to improve things along the way. I cut the keys on keyboard the same width as piano keys, to make playing easier. Instead of safety pins in the wind chest to act as springs, I used small springs found at Ace Hardware. I did not make the support apparatus below the keys. No problem. It works well.
Let me know if I can answer more questions. I'm sure we could write a book about things that drag us down. This makes projects and hobbies very important for us. A great way to spend time. Have a fine day! Bob
847 pieces plus one talented man. Great work. The patience you must have to do the fret work, I would probably skip the tiny cutouts after 3 hours of disconnecting the blade:D.
Can't wait to hear it. Hope your shoulder heals quickly :)
Nicely done Ron.
You put a crapload of hours in this week.Good luck with that shoulder mate.
Play it! After all that work,we want to see it playing
Krylon is not cheap paint ! It is however, IMHO, the best canned spray paint you can buy. It dries fast and can easily be layered and it cures hard after a day or two. I like to paint outside on sunny days and you can apply coats at about 15 minute intervals.
That looks great! Nice work. Any chance of you posting a video of it in action?
Koert van der Veer I'm headed for shoulder surgery in about one hour so it may be a while. Eventually there will be several videos posted of it playing.
I was just experimenting with making the littlest pipe today. I'm not sure exactly what's going on but it makes a note sounds when the end of the pipe is open but when I plug it with say a tuning plug, I don't get any sound. I'll have to keep experimenting
Don't know... unless the plug is not sealing (an air leak) or the pipe is leaking (not sealed)? The pipes as dimensioned do work. You need to pay attention to the way John Smith gives the dimensions... like the dimension plus wood thickness which is actually plus 2 thicknesses of the wood (each side of the dimension.
Thank you for all your postings. They've encouraged me a great deal! How did you measure the water? That's a new term for me.
Hi Ronald, Me again. Hope I'm not becoming a pain in the tookus. I'm realizing after reading the Senior 20 plans 3 times, there's a whole lot of lea way. not much on the front or back panel. do you have a plan of your front pipe mounting board? I'd be happy to pay for any drawings you may have. I'm a very experienced wood worker, how ever, I think you're mounting board is more then I could come up with. Thanks Colby
YOU need to decide how your pipes are going to be placed in the front of your organ. Conductor or no conductor. Motor drive or no motor drive, etc. (I suggest the motor drive.) You are a long way away from needing to do that. Then you use the pipe arrangement to layout the mounting board and remove as much plywood as possible to lighten it. There are no drawings. My drawing was done directly on the plywood (for both organs). I'm just showing you how I made mine. There is some leeway in areas like the case, but the bellows, reservoir, pressure box (important stuff) should be built & dimensioned as drawn or you may end up with a mess. John Smith's plans are just giving you the basic idea... there is a lot left for interpretation. The hardest part is just getting started. The number on my videos is the order in which i built mine. The more you read John Smiths plans the more you will appreciate my video series. Please watch the ads and subscribe. That is what keeps this channel available.
Thanks, I've decided agains the conductor. I'll also be going with the hand crank. I feel it will be more fun for my younger family members to turn the crank and make the music.
I've read through John Smiths plans several times, and every time I do, I learn more and relate more, as well as rely more on your videos. I think I've watched your videos about 3 or 4 times, as well as referencing them as I read the plans. I have so greatfull and appreciative of all the time you've invested in your videos! You're a very meticulous person and it's well appreciated!
Thank you so much for your help and attention. Colby
Having built the first one... and having become older... and having now had 4 shoulder surgeries in the past 7 years... I have come to realize that turning the hand crank sucks for older people. Since converting the first organ to motor drive, I have played it 10 times more often than before the motor drive and most of the time nobody else is around. And, as long as you realize, it can always be hand cranked... you don't need to use the motor... just hide the belt and don't tell the younger people about the motor. And the motorized rewind is great. If you "plan" for the motor you can always add it later just as I did. If you don't plan for it, then you'll end up having to remake the bass pipes. :-(
Ronald its perfect but i didnt understand that how did machine working. İ mean how you connect tracker bar and front pipes. They have only one hole to air in it. How tracker bar works when its out hole is opn. How tracker bar send air to front pipe when its front is not covered with paper? Can you please explain me. Thanks
***** There are 20 pipes in the organ. There are 20 holes in the tracker bar, each hole is for a specific pipe. Each hole in the tracker bar is connected to the corresponding pipe with a rubber hose. The music roll allows for any combination of the 20 holes to be open. When a hole in the music roll travels across the tracker bar it allows compressed air contained inside the pressure box to travel through the corresponding hose and blow that pipe. If there are no holes in the music roll then none of the pipes sound. If only a few holes are open then only a few pipes will sound. Does that clear it up? Perhaps you can watch the entire 28 video series.
Hello Ronal, I am following your videos, the only big problem is the language, there is the possibility of sending it in Spanish, thanks and take good care of yourself
Your only option is to select subtitles (click on CC at the bottom of the video screen), which are generated automatically by CZcams. I have gone to each video and selected them for Spanish language, which is also automatically translated. There are 65 videos in this series so that took a few hours to do.
Not all videos have subtitles. I do not know why but something in the CZcams system will not allow them to be generated (this happens sometimes) and I can not do anything about it.
The automatic subtitles today are fairly good but they can sometimes be inaccurate and the translation can also be inaccurate.
Thanks for watching. Please subscribe!
That is what keeps this channel going.
Ron
Great Organ and a excellent work.
I like to see your Videos.
I there a Chance to see the Organ in Action??
Greetings from Germany
Carsten
Carsten Rink I had shoulder surgery today. You will need to wait for the scheduled release of the remaining videos.