CUSTOM FABRICATION - RETROFIT

under construction - last update, 2/21/05
There are many rebuilders across the country but few are equipped or experienced enough to deal with complete remanufacture of parts that may be needed in the restoration process. More than half of the shop space here is devoted to wood working equipment. I have had many years of training under Amish craftsmen in the art of working wood. My goal is to provide the highest quality workmanship in the copying and fabrication of quality player actions, pumps, and pipe chests, in part or in whole.

Stacks and components

Often times, player actions are missing, or have been damaged or cobbled to the point that they cannot be restored. There are player actions like Gulbransen, H. C. Bay, which are glued together and cannot easily disassembled or serviced . Actions like Schultz, with its inner pneumatics, or actions which have flaws in their design that appear with age, can be redesigned to be easier to service and inexpensive to rebuild the next time. Then there are the stacks that contain parts that are Die Cast (pot metal), or no longer available. For this, a player action can be custom made to occupy the same space as the original. In coin pianos, stacks are often missing or replaced with a different one. Having an exact duplicate of the original stack can increase the value of the instrument.
When making a stack using the best grade of well seasoned hardwoods is very important. I try to use the same species or similar woods that were used in the original. The woods I work with generally are Poplar, Maple, Cherry, and Birch. Once I purchase the rough lumber I need for a certain project, I need to let it sit in a humidity/temperature controlled space for at least 3-4 months before I can begin milling it. Keep in mind this makes the turn-around time for a complete stack 7-16 months. Once the milling and drilling is done, the holes and other air passages are sealed with burnt shellac as in the originals. All gasketing, pouches, and valve facings are leather / zephyr skin, NO SYNTHETICS. Brass, steel, or nickel plated screws are used when ever possible.
Below is a list of some of the stacks and parts I can make. I don't usually have many of these parts in stock, but I do make extra when I do a custom run of certain items. I will be adding items and information to this page periodically. Please bookmark this page and check it often. If you have any special needs not listed here, feel free to contact me.

Complete Stacks

Ampico "A"
Ampion (old style w/cardboard divider)
Bush & Lane Duo-Art
Gulbransen
H.C. Bay
Kimbal
Marquette (Cremona)
Operators (Coinola/Reproduco)
 Schultz
Seeburg - 4 tier
Seeburg - 2 tier
Western Electric
Weber, Gebruder
Welte (orchestrion)
Wurlitzer

Unit valve blocks - pneumatics with pouches/

Coinola
 Gulbransen
Krell
Lauter
Operator's (Coinola - Reproduco) Starr
Simplex

Misc.

Aeolian Grand (reed organ)

Pumps

Almost every foot pump bellows unit from a player piano or reed organ that comes into the shop nowadays needs some sort of extensive repair or replacement of wooden parts and bellows boards. The three-layer plywood used in most of the bellows is very susceptible to delaminating under adverse conditions. Trying to re-glue this mess poses a few problems; remaining glue joints are weak which will not hold, and may not allow full penetration of the new glue, and swelling and contracting of the laminates may cause internal cracks or misalignment of screw holes and channels. For these reasons, it is more practical to just replace these parts. There are two ways to tell if delaminating is present. Fig 1 - Thin vertical cracks in on the face of the board, particularly around the flap valve holes where there may even be sections of the top laminate missing. Fig. 2 - Sides of the boards show variations between the laminates, where the outer laminates have swelled and the middle one has not or visa-versa. There are a few makes of players where adding electric unit is impossible because the pump takes up the whole bottom of the piano. In this case a whole new foot pump can be made, using the original hardware, that would a accommodate the suction box.

Pipe chests and other instruments

Case Work & Cabinetry

As stated in my bio, I have had much experience as a cabinetmaker under the tutelage of Amish craftsman. I have the equipment to handle most any type of general cabinetry, be it duplicating a band organ case (shown below) or extensions for a build up orchestrion.