Turning Morse Tapers

Wow, that's pretty interesting! I'm plain dumb about "Tracker Pipe Organ"s......... Is this building an organ, or repairing/overhauling an old one? Old Chief Lynn

Thanks for the interest.

This is building a new pipe organ. Our little church contracted with a local builder (Rockburn, Quebec, Canada) for a new organ.

His design is an all wood organ. Tracker means direct mechanical linkage from the keyboard to the pipes. The pipes themselves are all wood, actually Kentucky brown oak. It will be a single manual (keyboard) with 263 pipes ranging from 10 foot to 1 1/2 inches.

I got involved when I saw all the turned bits in the design. I have been turning as a hobby for 25 years and finally have part of a project that will hopefully outlast me.

Dennis Brown

I answered yesterday but for some reason the message did not get through.

A tracker pipe organ is a purely mechanical instrument. Most organs made in the last 50 years have been electro-pneumatic where a touch on the keyboard sends a signal to a valve which allows air into the pipes to produce a note. A tracker organ has a direct linkage between the keyboard and the base of the pipe to allow air to enter the pipe.

The instrument our little church has commissioned will be a single manual (keyboard) with foot pedals for the bass register. In total there will be 263 pipes, all made of wood,in fact Kentucky brown oak.

The maker is Wolfgang Kater, of Rockburn, Quebec Canada.

I got involved when I discovered that there were so many turned bits and pieces to be made and that my helping out would be a lasting contribution to something that will hopefully out live me.

You can contact me direct using this email address without the spam word.

Dennis Brown snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com

Dennis that is quite the project to be involved in. I'm surprised there are still organ builders around and the fact the builder has given you the turnings to do for your own church has to be a real thing of pride for you. How do you like your Coronet lathe? They must be quite rare this side of the pond.

Thanks for the response.

I think there are quite a few Cornet lathes in the Montreal area. I know of 2 retailers selling record lathes.

My involvement with the organ is great fun. The builder is a true character. He has is shop out in the country attached to his home. He builds guitars, harpsichords, mandolins, and ukuleles. He has a full wood shop, a sheet metal shop and a machine shop.

The turret lathe that I used to drill the bores for the pipe tapers dates from 1896. I used a Carlyle machine lathe with a 95 lb 4 jaw chuck to bore out 2 1/2 inc he bore for the biggest pipes stems.

I usually commute out to the shop once a week bring all the small items finished on my machines. It is an hour's drive through farm country and a great break from city traffic.

This week I fitted leather covered blocks with handles into the top of the pipes. I made all the handles by the way.

I post pictures for the lathes and handles tonight.

Dennis