Reach for the Sky
Wonder Fans,
More updates!
We had an amazing quarter working on the great Wonder Morton. My father and I joined forces once again with Dan Rousseau and Grant Chapman and took more huge strides cleaning and assembling more of the Solo chamber.
The 16’ Diaphone and Tuba are completely clean, and the last few Diaphone pipes are ready to install once safety cables are installed and the restored beaters are finished. The Tuba boots have been completely cleaned and restored, just like the resonators.
Our goal with this project has always been to “clean” the organ and leave as much of the organ as it was when we found it. However, there are several smaller parts of this organ that have had some significant water damage and would not perform well when wind was put on them. For example, the main wind trunk, which is a large wooden box that sends the wind to the various regulators, has had some water damage and needs to be glued and regasketed. We’ll also need to replace the bungs and one end piece that was cracked. That process is underway and should be done soon.
Just after the large pipes were put in place, the rest of the floor frame was installed in the chamber. The floor frame is the frame on which the organ sits, basically the footprint of the instrument. There were some very small modifications that needed to be done due to the room being smaller, but the basic footprint of the organ is unchanged.
Now that the floor frame is down and attached together, we checked if everything was level and started to go “up” with the chest frames and placement of the regulators.
We have also started the cleaning and restoration of the chests that wind the majority of the pipework 4’ and up, called the “manual chests.” Outside of the floor frame and one regulator, the manual chests had some of the worst water damage. Luckily, nothing is so bad that it cannot be repaired.
In the next few months, once the larger chests have their leather pouches, we will be putting wind on the regulators one by one. This will allow us to diagnose any issues and ensure that everything works properly. Then we can start wiring!
We’re excited to keep you informed on our journey. Thank you for your support.
Nick Myers
PROJECT MANAGER
