February 2022 Update

This past month, significant progress has been made on the chamber floor. Thanks to my Dad for assisting with laying the subfloor. Since we couldn’t penetrate the concrete floor (due to heating coils), we had to glue down the base layer of ¾” sheets of treated plywood. Next was another layer of glue and then sanded ¾” plywood on top, which was then screwed together with the base layer. The thickness of the sub floor is needed to be able to screw things down to the floor (such as chest legs and eyes for reservoir springs). The floor is now ready for the final layer. This has actually turned out to be the hardest part… that is the selection of what flooring to use! Hopefully this piece will be done by the next update.

The other project that has been consuming my time is the restoration of a six-stage swell engine, to drive the swell shutters. One of the two that came with my shutters and frames had the sixth stage sawed off due to space constraints in their previous installation. Wanting to make use of all 12 stages on this organ, I was able to get a used engine that was complete, however in very bad condition. It turns out that these swell engines make wonderful homes for mud dauber wasps. At the end of the day, four large nests were removed from the inside of the unit. They also got mud and other debris in channeling and all magnets. It was a mess. After a lot of cleaning, blowing out and sanding down, it looks like a swell engine again!

Aside from that project, I was able to fit in a fun one. I couldn’t think of a good reason not to… so Ella helped me run a cable and install a relay, which drives our house doorbell. That’s right, you can now ring our doorbell from the organ console! My wife did not approve of this project and I have already had a blast having her answer the door!

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to all those who assisted me in lifting the seven rank chest onto horses. This will make for much easier wiring!

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