Crank Handle Pt. 3

I completed the crank handle and got it attached to the organ.

Since I'm using a mitre gear arrangement with a side-mounted handle (as opposed to the rear-mounted handle specified in the plans), I needed to take some care in getting everything lined up correctly.
To make sure the short crank handle shaft wouldn't get too wobbly, I wanted to come up with an arrangement that would have two separated bearings to keep the shaft in alignment. Since the side of the organ is less than a quarter inch thick, I knew I needed to beef it up a little, and fortunately I had the circular base of the wooden candlestick I used for the handle.

I cut out a brass circular backing plate, and drilled the pieces to accommodate the shaft, the bearing and the mounting bolts.

Here's what it looked like once I got the wood stained & shellacked, the brass polished, and the shaft ground down in one spot to accommodate a set screw in the handle:

To fix the handle to the shaft, I drilled a hole to fit a set screw in through the underside of the handle arm. I also used a drill with a small bit to gouge out a slot to hold a nut, so the screw would have something sturdy to grab onto. Here's what it looked like before I cut the screw to the proper length and tidied up the gouged and unstained drilled areas:

For the interior bearing, I made a mount out of hardwood, and once I got everything lined up correctly, I bolted it all together:

Crank Handle Pt. 2

I had a couple of wood pieces for options on the crank's handle - one was a wooden candlestick, the other was a handle from a wooden bead back massager.

I decided to go with the candlestick, but I wasn't sure how to attach it to the crank so that it would spin freely. I initially figured on drilling through the entire handle, but didn't feel confident (with the tools I have) that I could drill a straight line all the way through it.

So I came up with an alternative arrangement using a threaded wood insert nut and a 10-32 screw and some nuts and washers.

I cut the candlestick, drilled a hole in the end to accommodate the wood insert nut, then used a dremel tool grinder to grind down the bolt head so that it was just barely smaller than the minimal diameter of the insert nut. I also used the grinder to grind down the threads on the bolt just below the bolt head. This made it so I could thread the bolt into the wood insert nut and the bolt would eventually run out of threads and the insert nut would spin freely just below the bolt head. I screwed the insert/bolt combo into the candlestick head-first. I then used a nylon locknut on one side of the crank and a brass washer and cap nut on the other side:

Crank Handle Part 1

Ever since I started this build, I've been looking for a crank handle on various websites like ebay, hoping to find a vintage cast iron or brass handle perhaps from an old meat grinder or Victrola. Although I did come across many, they were never quite right in terms of price, size, condition, etc.

Figuring the crank handle was a fairly prominent part of the "crank organ", I didn't want to just settle for slapping on a simple functional device, so, not finding a ready-made one to my liking, I decided to make my own.


First I picked out a block of hardwood from my scrap pile, choosing a piece that had grain running in favorable directions. I also put together a template in Photoshop to help me with the initial cutting of the block.

For the first pass, I cut out the template shape on the bandsaw, and filed off some of the rough edges and blade marks.

Next I used the router, drill press and bandsaw to get it into a rough shape:

Then came the sanding and filing and sanding and filing…

Until I wound up with this:

Next I spent some time with the Dremel tool, more sandpaper and files until I got this:

Using some of the thin scrap brass that I had, I cut a piece on the scroll saw and drilled it in a few spots:

I stained the wood and attached the brass accent/reinforcement strip and here's what I've got so far:

I haven't drilled the hole for the handle shaft yet, as I'm still deciding on the shaft diameter and how to get it attached to a handle I'm going to make from a wooden candlestick.  I also need to install a set screw in the crank base in order to secure it to its shaft.

Fixing the con rod ends and pressure testing.

I got some more washers, nut, bolts and other stuff from McMaster-Carr, so I thought I'd finish up and fix the con rod ends before moving on to something else.

During cranking, the con rod ends (where they attach to the bellows) weren't quite smooth enough for my liking - if I tightened the end nut all the way, there wasn't enough play for the bellows arm to slightly swivel/rock between the leather washer, and if I left the nut a little loose, I could feel the clunking as the rod reached its end travel dead spot.

Turning the organ upside-down, I first dropped a 1/4" brass washer onto the rod. The rods are nested inside brass tubing, so the bigger diameter tubing keeps the washer in place. Next I dropped on a short spring, followed by another brass washer, then a leather washer. Next, I put the rod through the bellows arm, put on another leather washer, another brass washer, and finally a nylon locknut which I tightened down so that the spring was just less than fully compressed.

I put a fake brass coating on all of the steel parts.

Now the con rods are nice and snug, but still have a little bit of spring-loaded flexibility.



Even though I don't have the crank handle made and installed, I still wanted to do a preliminary pressure test on the bellows/reservoir assembly.


I think it's OK, but I find conflicting information about how much pressure I should have and how long the pressurized reservoir should stay up before fully collapsing.

I originally was getting about 8 and a half inches of pressure, but I adjusted the spring back a little to lower it somewhat.

Here's the test, using a manometer set at inches of water:

Spring Feet Revision

It was pointed out to me on the Busker Organ Forum, that the reservoir spring "feet" that I had made out of dowel pins had a couple of potential problems:

1. There was nothing to keep the dowels from sliding sideways and having the spring go flying out
2. A smooth dowel surface might be preferable to one with ridges like those on the dowel pins
3. Some sort of lubrication would be needed to keep the dowels from squeaking

With these things in mind, I revised the spring feet, making them more of a dumbbell shape so that they would not slide off the mounting blocks. I also filed a groove near the spring wire insertion hole so that the spring would not swivel sideways.

Here's a view of the new feet:

Here's how it looks in cross-section, using an off-cut scrap of the mounting block:

And here are the new feet - stained and in place:

One further revision…

Since the wood of the spring dowel feet squeaked a little when it rotated on the wood mounting blocks, I decided to put on a couple of drops of mineral oil for lubricant. This only made it squeak even worse.

To eliminate the wood-on-wood friction, I cut and split a couple of pieces of brass tubing and clipped them on the feet…. No more squeaks!

Reservoir Spring and Spill Valve Block

I wanted to tackle the reservoir spring and spill valve trigger block, so I did some measurements and made some pieces out of hardwood scraps. I bought the torsion spring from McMaster-Carr (catalog # 9271K113), so in order to get it ready, I bent the end tips with some vise-grips so they'd fit into their dowel "feet". For the dowel feet, I cut a pre-made wooden dowel pin in half, and drilled holes through the middle so that the spring wire would be a snug fit. I found that I had bent the tips of the wire a little long and they protruded through the dowel pieces. I figured that if I drilled additional holes in the scalloped mounting blocks, the tips of the spring wire would seat and center nicely - this didn't work very well, so I ended up trimming the wire so it didn't protrude through the dowels.

I also wanted to fancy up the spring itself a little, and since it was just a black oxide steel spring, I decided to give it a shinier brass finish using a technique I saw on YouTube a while back. Basically, the steel is heated up and then vigorously brushed with a brass wire brush. I used a brass wire brush wheel that came with my Dremel tool.

Next, I stained the wooden pieces, and while they dried, I prepared the mounting surface for gluing by sanding the finish off in specific places on the top of the reservoir and on the bottom of the pressure box.

I also wanted to secure the glued pieces with small screws, to serve as a clamp while the glue cures, as well as to add extra holding power.

So far I've used about 80 or so #2    3/8" slotted brass screws on this build. I really like this size and length as it provides nice holding power without having to go entirely through any of the plywood panels. I find that these screws really need a nice pilot hole in the plywood, but I always prefer to keep close control over the depth of the pilot hole, by "finger drilling" each one (twisting the drill bit between my thumb and forefinger). I usually put a small bit of tape on the drill bit to act as a depth gauge.

Here are both halves of the scalloped spring mount:

(This one also shows the spill valve block)

And here is what it looks like with everything in place and shellacked:

(Just in case the layout seems confusing -- ordinarily, the plans call for the spill valve to be located on the other side of the spring (toward the back of the organ by the bass pipes), but I wanted as much of the "inner workings" visible as possible through a top panel lid between the pressure box and the front pipes)


Just ordered a couple of rolls of music from Melvyn Wright (on the busker organ forum), and I can't wait until it arrives!

Con Rods

Another little task for today…

I decided to tackle the con rods today, so I made some leather washers, cut some brass for the bellows connections, and sheathed some lengths of 1/4-28 threaded rod in brass tubing. For the front con rod, I put bent the tubing/rod piece and secured it into the rod end with a spring pin. For the straight shaft, I used some loctite and put  a bunch of contact cement into the tube before sliding it onto the rod so that it wouldn't rattle, hopefully…

I secured the bellows-to-rod connector pieces to the bellows using #4-1/2" screws, then attached the rods using the leather washers sandwiched between two nuts and a brass washer. Hopefully I can eventually replace the steel nuts with some made of brass, so everything in that area is the same color:

Here's an upside-down shot from a wider angle:

Lid catch

I went to the Industrial Metal Supply in Sun Valley to pick up some brass and other stuff so I could complete a couple of odds & ends here and there.

In one of the scrap bins I found some 5" brass sheet squares that seemed to be just under 1/16" thick.

I wanted to see how the brass would do with some cutting on the scroll saw, so I thought I'd finish my pressure box lid by making a brass catch plate for it.

I covered the edge of one of the square sheets with some frog tape, and cut out a rounded rectangle piece:

Then I drilled a pair of countersunk mounting holes, and cut a slot for the latch:

I removed the frog tape and re-taped it to the organ panel where the catch would be mounted to serve as a template for cutting a recess into the wood so the catch would sit flush. Here's what it looks like on the face side:

And here it is with the latch engaged, viewed from the back/crankcase side:

Idler wheel revision

Once I had put the res/bellows unit in place, I quickly realized that the interior con rod was hitting the idler wheel shaft, so I ended up putting a dogleg bend in the shaft and set its non-wheel end in a different location, well out of the path of the con rod - here you can see the old abandoned hole, and the new one just below and to the right.

Since bending the rod took away some of its length (and since I couldn't get a drill into that part of the crankcase), I drilled into a small scrap of hardwood and then attached the piece with a couple of screws:









Here's an exploded view of all of the idler wheel components:








Everything except the shaft and the spring go on the outside of the crank housing - the spring tension keeps everything in place:








Here's where things stand now:

Idler Wheel

Got the side panels stained, but need the stain to fully dry before shellacking and assembling…

So, in the meantime, I got the idler wheel installed using a 1/4" rod, some shaft clips, some nylon washers and a spring:

Side Panels

I figured it was time to get working on the side panels. This would have been fairly straightforward, except I didn't want to have any screws or nails visible on the outside of the organ...

On the right-hand (lid hinge) side, I glued the panel to the side of the pressure box after making the cutout for the lid.

On the left-hand (crank case) side, I made some L-bracket strips out of hardwood and positioned them so they could be attached without being visible from the outside. While I glued all the various battens/brackets to the side panels, I plan on using only screws to keep the left panel in place, in case I need to remove it to get at anything.

(In order to get a screwdriver on the some of the screws, I had to drill some screwdriver "access" holes in the middle crankshaft support piece.)

Measuring the angle of the bellows/reservoir assembly centerboard placement, it came up as an 80 degree angle, so I cut and placed the assembly support battens so that the res/bellows assembly would slide into place and could be held securely with only a few screws. This would allow me to easily remove the assembly for maintenance/repair/etc.

Once the glue dries, I'll get at staining and securing the sides and res/bellows assembly in place.

Hopefully I'll get something more accomplished before baseball season officially starts on Monday...