The body of a wooden pipe can be made of either a coniferous wood or hardwood, although the lower section of the pipe (comprising the foot, cap, block and mouth) will nearly always be made from hardwood to provide a precise edge for the pipe's mouth. Using screws and glue, the pipes are assembled from wooden pieces of various shapes and sizes. In contrast with the circular cross-section of a metal pipe, the cross-section of a wooden pipe is most commonly square or rectangular. Much of the interior mechanism of the pipe organ is made of wood. Some organs employ only the highest grades of lumber to guarantee the mechanism will be long lasting. Interior woodwork and windchests are made from yellow poplar, selected for its structural strength and dimensional stability. Exposed casework is constructed of a variety of wood species selected to match the woodwork of the room in which the instrument will be installed. Excellence in woodworking skill is essential to achieve both the proper mechanical operation of the instrument as well as yield attractive finished cabinet grade woodworking for visual elements (casework) present in many modern pipe organ designs. Similar to a piano, the better quality material and workmanship, the better the organ, the better the sound, the longer it lasts without mechanical breakdowns. Jer Groot From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of J. Stanley Ryberg Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 12:53 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: [pianotech] Wooden organ pipes I've been watching for a reply to Ed Foote's question about why the fronts and backs of wooden pipes were quarter-sawn spruce, but the sides were anything but. While I have no definitive answer, is it logical that front and back need to be relatively stable, since the fipple is cut into the front and the back helps to locate/stabilize the structure? The sides...well...I can't imagine that any good comes of the sides squirming around with changes in humidity! Stan Ryberg Barrington IL jstan40 at sbcglobal.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100201/5829834c/attachment.htm>
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