Baaaaaa - Organs & Lubes

[Ron Nossaman]

At 07:18 PM 3/4/98 EST, you wrote:
>Ron;
>A PUMP ORGAN !!!!!....................................... i'm proud of you.

Aw shucks, you're just saying that.

>Several observations 1. Wax/tallow was commonly used to "permanently
>moisturize" leather used in hinges on some of these things. (thats why most
>were tacked 'and' glued) 

Yep, I've seen that, but the valve/door leather seems to be the same as the
"alum" tanned stuff available today. 

>2. Vox doors and openings were also treated with
>wax/tallow to "stabilize" them to moisture absorbtion and release.  As in
>pianos, it seems that the better the quality of the instrument the more likely
>it is that there will be verdigris present.

Hmmm, maybe so, but I find verdigris in all quality ranges from the Mason &
Hamlin to the 'Name on Request'.

>  Did you notice if the verdigris was limited to the area where the brass
>hinges were touching the leather ?

And where the torsion springs touch the leather, and where the palette valve
guide pins touch the leather, and where the reeds touch the leather...


>  And Ron..................stay away from the sheep!
>Jim Bryant (FL) 

Thanks Jim, words to live by. Seems like I read that in an old Ann Landers
column too. <Ha> 

P.S. I used to tune for a guy out in the country who raised standard
poodles. You know, the big ones that are show-trimmed to look like
shrubbery. He would take them (un-trimmed) out in the yard in the evening
and exercise them by throwing sticks for them to chase and retrieve. One
day, a neighbor (1/4 mi. south) approached him in town. The neighbor said he
had been watching the action in the yard and he just had to know. "How in
the world did you teach those sheep to fetch sticks?"   

So maybe it's really poodle leather. Gary Larson would probably know. %-)

 Ron Nossaman