The "core" of the organ removed.
Actually it is an independent "unit". Those days modular systems already
existed. Note the damage on the cabinet. Plan is to replace the back
of the cabinet completely with a new plywood.
It
is clear that the organ has been overhauled once with "modern"
materials. The white strips are plastic tape. Normally leather was used
to seal airflow containers.
The "unit" seperated from the cabinet. The actual "break-down" can start. Brrr, hope everything will fit again together, after every part has been cleaned up and/or repaired.
The best way to know how to re-assemble is to take pictures, pictures, pictures. Glad these days they are instantly available and are darn cheap.
Side View Treble Side. The levers are connected to the stop knobs above the keyboard and actuate different valves or couplers (Bass and Treble)
Side View Bass Side
Front View. Mention the lever at the right side. It is basically actuated by the right leg and open two big valves for volume increase. One at the front side, one at the back side.
A reed organ is a very human instrument. You have to do everything yourself
- Producing the air flow
- Playing the keys
- Using the stops during play
- using your legs to open valves
The actual "valves" of the organ. They are hold in place by springs.
The levers are removed here. Carefully named by their stop knob. Names are
- Bass Coupler
- Diapason
- Principal
- The broken one (I HAVE to find out what the name might have been)
- Dulcet
- Dox Celeste
- Melodia
- Treble Coupler
The broken one is connected to a kind of "hamond" style rotator which gets air from the "basement by opening a valve.
The "control unit"
The bare keyboard. At the back the hamond style Unit
All keys removed, The heart of the organ start to show up
All the keys piled up
Key frame removed
Couplers for bass and treble removed. They can use a major overhaul. Every lever is corroded quite badly. Felt "bearings" are worn out and need to be replaced (the red stuff)
The organ push rods. They open the valves on the very bottom of the organ unit when a key is pressed. These are the push rods that are not part of the couplers. They are different in shape
The push rod guide
The bass coupler push rods. They are also actuated by the bass coupler unit. One is broken, but can be re-manufactured easily. Felt is worn here too.
Treble coupler push rods. They're all intact, although one if them is mysteriously black. Felt has to be replaced.
The pile of coupler push rods
The actuators for reed valves. When opened the volume is increased
Close-up if actuator
This needs a small explanation. The fact that the core of the organ is glued, might indicate it was a cheaper model. I would guess a more expensive organ might be unmountable to the bone. So I was not able to reach the reeds themselves. They are nailed doen to the base plate, while the wooden construction on top of it is glued indeed. This is clearly visible at the bottom side, when the valves are removed. So we decided to keep it like it is. With a vacuum cleaner I removed as much dust as possible
Another view on sucking out the dust
A mysterious number "20" was found back on the base plate of the organ.
Since all varnish is probably very old, it is quite dull. So I used the car polish I use for my Royal Enfield Motorcyle to give it a new shine
All the valves removed.
Actually these are the actual valves making the sound possible.
The reeds produce the sound. But the valves allow the air to reach the reeds. The base plate is screwed against the base of the bellows in the cabinet. The seal avoids air escaping.
The whole chamber as seen above is under vacuum. All valves are closed when there is no key hit.
When a key is hit, the push rod is pushed down, opening the valve, allowing air flowing from the atmosphere via the reed element into the bellows, causing the sound. It's not clear to me yet, on how the bass dispason works though. When activated, a supplement of lower octaves are added on top of the bass notes.
The valves themselves are built up with natural materials, being wood, felt and presumably deer leather. As clearly visible, they are polluted by soot dust. The outmost 3 right valves were cleaned with a brush. They have an imprint due to the long lasting pressure. Question here is. Do they need to be overhauled, or can we keep them as is?
Here I need some experts in organ restoration to provide a correct assesment. In the motorcycle world, they discourage to replace valve seats if this is not necessary, since the valves adapted themselves into the seats. Don't know if this is valid for organ valves though.
