Thanks to EMS Industrial for constructing the control panel for the organ. Although quite unnecessary, it will sure be neat to watch the meters dance around when the organ fires up and plays! The panel offers readings on logic rectifier voltage, magnet rectifier volts and amps, blower 1, 2 and vacuum pump wind and controls for the frequency drives that power the blowers. In addition to those functions, you can manually start the blowers individually as well as the rectifiers and vacuum pump. The instrument will normally be controlled by a single switch next to the relay counter upstairs.... but that is boring in nature so thus this panel!
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After starting this project several months ago, it is finally finished thanks to the new primary box gaskets that were punched at Jeff Weiler's shop.
First off, thanks to my friend Gary Bieck for giving me this Wurlitzer Shuffle. Second, to answer the question of what is a Wurlitzer Shuffle. To explain, I'll describe what a Wurlitzer Surf is first. A surf is a box that is typically attached to a wind trunk, operating on static pressure. This box has a pneumatic inside that slides a piece of wood back and forth, allowing wind to escape from the box through a slit in the top. In-line with the slit is a piece of sheet metal that the wind passes over as it rushes out. The large pneumatic inside has a "bleed" screw that controls the rate it moves. The end effect sounds similar to the surf rolling in and out. Now that you understand a surf, apply the exact same concept (and design) to the shuffle, with the addition of a primary box that allows the large pneumatic inside to move quickly. This makes it possible to play the shuffle rhythmically. This particular shuffle got hit with water at some point during its life. Therefore, wood glue and lots of clamps were deployed during the restoration of this unit.
Finished up the crash cymbal action. This one was an interesting design that I haven't seen up until this point. A double primary valve exists to fire the secondary. This is also the first time I experienced the self-tapping valves that Wurlitzer used in certain applications.
I had the opportunity to tour the shops of JL Weiler in Chicago. While there, I was introduced to the punch press, a machine that is used to punch holes in leather. In the case of an organ, there are many gaskets that need holes punched in certain places for screws to pass and wind channeling to function. Primary boxes contain three specialized gaskets with many varying sized holes in each. Although it is possible to punch these out by hand, a punch press greatly speeds things up. Arrangements were made to return with enough leather to punch 66 sets of primary box gaskets (198 total). Thank you Jeff Weiler and Mike Jacklin for making the photo below possible...!
For historical reference, the wood pictured below was had for a low price of only $778.93. About four times the cost as it was a year prior.
Due to COVID pandemic delays, the 10 replacement SAMs that were ordered back in November of 2020 finally arrived! They have been installed in the console to replace ones with burnt out coils. These are what the multi-colored stop tabs get mounted to. The coils with black foil around them are the magnets that move the switches up and down (on and off). The actual switch that tells the Uniflex relay that the stop is on or off is located towards the bottom of the board as the below image is oriented. It is called a reed switch and consists of two tiny pieces of metal that are moved together or apart based on magnetic fields produced by the magnets that are just above the switch.
Thanks to Zach Frame for assisting with construction of the slanted chamber wall (pictured right). This wall is further away from the foundation wall towards the back of the chamber and closer to it at the front. This was constructed this way to aid in canceling standing sound waves (which occur when two walls are parallel to each other). A standing wave will cancel frequencies out and therefore undesirable in an instrument such as this. The furring strips on the rest of the walls will hold 1/2" drywall whereas the ceiling will have two sheets of 5/8" drywall with green acoustic glue in between. The glue creates an air gap between the two sheets which helps to dampen the sound from penetrating the ceiling. The furring strips offer further assistance in this area as does the fiberglass insulation.
Some items to do yet -- two actions are being constructed for the acme and police whistles that will be attached to the trunk. Also waiting to mount the buzzer until after the two whistle actions go on. Black paint on the wood was applied before I received the unit. Didn't want to sand too much off so the paint was left as part of the history.
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